Boomerang with five pokerwork bands filled with dots
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- Type
- Boomerangs
- Place
- Lake Tyers, East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
- Materials
- Wood
- Collection
- King Billy of Lake Tyers collection
- Accession number
- 2016.0048.0002
Description
An asymmetrical wooden boomerang featuring pokerwork with five bands filled with dots across both surfaces, evenly spaced along the boomerang.
About the collection
The collection comprises two boomerangs, two shields, three clubs and a spearthrower, all with pokerwork decoration. The set of eight objects was collected by William Alexander of Bairnsdale Victoria, from an Aboriginal man known as ‘King Billy’ either before or soon after 1918. This collection is a rare example of south-eastern Aboriginal objects whose provenance can be traced, especially once the objects become entangled in the world of dealers and auctions. Fortunately, this collection has not been broken up, or passed through many different hands before coming to the attention of the Museum. It was acquired by a twenty-first century Australian collector, directly from the descendant of the original collector (from the early twentieth century), and this information, together with a comparative study of other known collections, confirms that the objects were most likely made for sale at the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission Station.Today the Koori descendants of the various nineteenth and early twentieth century makers feel strongly that the objects from their communities, now usually held by Museums and Galleries throughout the world, are like the title deeds to their country. This collection is accessible as a source of pride to the descendants of their makers, and it is also a material witness for non-Indigenous people to the skills and history of Aboriginal people, and knowledge of such material contributes to the greater purpose of recognition and reconciliation.
Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 6:26:52 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-02-23. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.