Rounding Up A Straggler
c1900. Emu egg with relief carving, 9.5cm (diam.) x 12.8cm (length). Perforation to apex of egg at left side of image. Attributed to Jonaski Takuma due to the exceptionally fine quality of the carving, bearing very close resemblance to his other work. The carving on the egg reproduces imagery from the then very popular painting Rounding up a Straggler (1889) by Frank Prout Mahony, which was the first artwork by an Australian-born artist acquired by AGNSW. The practice of emu egg carving began in the mid-19th century by mostly non-Indigenous artists, using Australiana imagery. “By the late 19th century Sydney-based Japanese artist Jonaski Takuma reinvigorated the medium by introducing Japanese carving styles.” During this time, he, like other non-Indigenous artists, carved “single scenes designed for static display” instead of multiple scenes, which surrounded the egg. He worked from about 1893 to 1910 in the Imperial Arcade in Sydney. Ref: Art Gallery of NSW; Cathleen Rosier (University of Melbourne); Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences; Wiki. The emu egg is accompanied with an Ivorex relief plaque (20.5 x 30.5cm), depicting the same image. The plaque, dated “1925”, was made by Arthur Osborne in Kent, England. Ref: Vatican.
Item #CL206-21
Price (AUD): $9,900.00 other currencies