Australia, Stuart Creek, South Australia
1920s
Pearl shell, black pigment, human hair string
Height: 6¼ inches (15.9 cm); Width: 4¾ inches (12.1 cm)
Provenance: Jonathan Saussehrd, Australia
While most longka longka are engraved with ochre-filled incision, this example from Stuart Creek is worked with black pigment — a coloring agent seen on a small number of Kimberley and inland shells and associated with specific regional or individual practice rather than the dominant convention. The design is a single continuous squared spiral that begins at the outer edge and winds inward to a central point, covering the full face of the shell in evenly spaced parallel courses. The use of black against the shell's weathered, muted ground produces a stark tonal contrast that gives the composition an immediate graphic quality distinct from the warmer ochre-filled examples more commonly encountered.
Stuart Creek, in the arid interior of South Australia, sits well beyond the Kimberley coast where pearl shell was harvested, confirming that this piece traveled considerable distance through intertribal exchange networks before it was collected. The single-motif spiral composition, the black pigment, and the geographic origin combine to make this one of the more distinctive shells in the group, and the 1920s date places it among the earlier pieces documented in the Jonathan Saussehrd collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Australia, Stuart Creek, South Australia
1920s
Pearl shell, black pigment, human hair string
Height: 6¼ inches (15.9 cm); Width: 4¾ inches (12.1 cm)
Provenance: Jonathan Saussehrd, Australia
While most longka longka are engraved with ochre-filled incision, this example from Stuart Creek is worked with black pigment — a coloring agent seen on a small number of Kimberley and inland shells and associated with specific regional or individual practice rather than the dominant convention. The design is a single continuous squared spiral that begins at the outer edge and winds inward to a central point, covering the full face of the shell in evenly spaced parallel courses. The use of black against the shell's weathered, muted ground produces a stark tonal contrast that gives the composition an immediate graphic quality distinct from the warmer ochre-filled examples more commonly encountered.
Stuart Creek, in the arid interior of South Australia, sits well beyond the Kimberley coast where pearl shell was harvested, confirming that this piece traveled considerable distance through intertribal exchange networks before it was collected. The single-motif spiral composition, the black pigment, and the geographic origin combine to make this one of the more distinctive shells in the group, and the 1920s date places it among the earlier pieces documented in the Jonathan Saussehrd collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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