Pongrass Collections

Bark Painting (X-Ray Crocodile), Croker Island, West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
Tree bark, Natural earth pigments, Collected late 1940's. L. 42.25" x 9.5" $8500.00

I acquired this bark painting on October 27, 1988 from Leo Fleischmann of Galleris Primitif in Sydney, Australia. Attached is a letter of authenticity from the gallery.
"According to Dr. Ron Lambert (Australian Museum in Sydney, Dept. of Anthropology) in the late 1940's, some Malgu and Gunwinggu people on Croker Island stenciled birds, fish, kangaroos and crocodiles on barks and rocks, but only for a very short period, and this technic disappeared as sudden as it came into existence. The reason to dis-continue painting with stencils are open to speculation. Probably there were a few poor hunting seasons which were blamed on the paintings. What-ever, only a few paintings from that period and technic survived.

This is a piece from my Crystal and Glass collection. It is limited edition hand made dish titled "Meteor" and signed by Bertil Vallien a master glassmaker of Kosta Boda. 1998 size, 270mm.

This is another object from my New Guinea (Melanesian) Collection. It is War Shield (Bapa). Shield of irregular kidney form and carved with a linear motif of irregular cruciform shape with a scroll detail at either end. The center pierced four time for attachments of elaborate braided fiber handles. A fifth woven ring is fitted through an opening near the top on the shield. Heavy black encrusted patina. H. 36" x 19.5". Ex. John and Marsha Friede Collection 2008. Exhibited Private Museum, Xiamen, China 2011, Katy Contemporary Art Museum Katy, Texas, Vertical Sculpture 2014