Summary

Tiwi people make containers from large palm leaves folded and stitched at the sides. Walter Baldwin Spencer collected an extraordinary array of bark and leaf containers from Bathurst and Melville Islands, each painted with a unique design using natural pigments. Containers were at times made quickly on the spot for a single use and then discarded, while others, like this one, are more robust and might be kept and reused over time. Baldwin Spencer was hosted on Bathurst and Melville Islands in 1911 by the legendary buffalo shooter, Joe Cooper. The two men had met in Darwin the year before, and their collaboration resulted in over a thousand objects being collected, mainly from Tiwi people on the islands, but also from mainlanders, primarily Iwadja people who worked directly for Cooper in his camp. Spencer is known to have purposely purchased a bolt of coloured cloth in Darwin to take with him on this trip to use as a commodity of exchange. No doubt he also traded for important artefacts with sticks of tobacco.

Local Name

turlini

Physical Description

A single palm leaf folded and stitched to form a container. It is coated with natural pigment: red ochre. The handle is a bent stick that is stitched at the point where the leaf is folded, attached on opposite sides and coated with resin.

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