Item X 104929 djabbilarna | Basket. Kunwinjku. Gunbalanya, Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. 2003

Summary

This is a saucepan basket which has been coiled. The colour used in the basket comes from dyed and undyed pandanus, forming horizontal bands. Stephanie Nadjamerrek has employed chopping colour in two sections, which gives the effect of vertical stripes and is a trademark technique for the artist. The two sided coiled handles are attached in the middle of the basket on opposite sides. The saucepan basket is not only about technical perfection of forms but about an eloquent sense of colour. The stiches are placed tight and close together, which intensifies the colour saturation.

Local Name

djabbilarna

Physical Description

Saucepan basket, coiled, with horizontal bands and interchanged colours in dyed pandanus (brown and yellow) and undyed pandanus. It has two short rigid coiled handles that emerge from the last two coils at the top of the basket.

Significance

Stephanie Nadjamerrek is an artist who has worked well into old age, and makes consistently small, tightly coiled baskets. Her trademark style often employs chopping colour with alternating two stiches of different colours. Her work is represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.