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Object type
Headdresses
Object number
2007.0045.0001
Description
Mornington Island ceremonial headdress, made from plant fibre which coils from a circular base gradually narrowing in a cone-like shape to the top. Delicate brown feathers are attached in the tip of the cone, and the surface of the cone has a painted triangular section which is white with red edges.
Collection name
Keith and Elsie de Witte collection
Keith de Witte (1928-2007) and Dick Roughsey (c.1920-1985) (Goobalathaldin) met at Karumba Lodge, then run by the Ansett company, in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the 1950s. This is significant as it was at Karumba Lodge that Roughsey was introduced to Percy Tresize. Roughsey and Tresize were to collaborate together for much of their lives, producing among other things a series of children's books, including 'The Rainbow Serpent' (1975) which won a Children's Picture Book of the Year Award. The headdress, bark paintings and photographs from the de Witte's wedding on Mornington Island in 1955 are significant as they illustrate the story of a friendship across cultures. The Lardil influences on the de Witte's wedding ceremony held on Mornington Island provide a snapshot of cultural continuation on a mission in northern Australia in the 1950s.
Maker
Dick Roughsey OBE
Materials
Plant fibre, Feather
Dimensions
Width: 340mm
Height: 610mm
Depth: 390mm