Dundiwuy Wanambi, 1936-1996, WUYAL, HONEY ANCESTOR

natural earth pigments on wood, pandanus, feathers and bush string 
HEIGHT: 138CM  

Provenance: 
Executed in North-East Arnhem Land in the 1980s 
Private collection 
Deutcher-Menzies, Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 27-28 June 2000, lot 75 
Private collection

Cf. For another sculpture of Wuyal by the artist, see Wuyal and Dhulaku (Euro), 1996-97, in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia in Wally Caruana and N. Lendon (eds.), The Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story: 1937-1997, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 1997, p.150, plate 100, (illus.).
 
Wuyal is the Marrakulu clan Honey Ancestor who imbued the land with his supernatural powers by cutting into beehives inside the trunks of hollow trees, causing honey to flow into the earth. This figure shows Wuyal painted in ceremonial clan designs and wearing feathered string armbands. Around his neck hangs a honey collecting bag. Wuyal is associated with the Wawilak (Wagilag) Sisters.