Tiwi Bark Basket “Tunga”
Melville Island, Northern Territory, c. 1970
Bark with pigments and fiber
Ex–Australian collection
20” h x 17” w (50 x 42 cm)
Price: $1,200
Tunga baskets are produced for the pukumani (burial ceremony), a rite intended to sustain life after death and help the spirit navigate passage to its final resting place in the next world. These baskets often contained gifts for the elders who carved the tutini (funerary poles).
