E20870 CH classification TOURISM

Commercially printed linen wall hanging, decorated with Aboriginal weapons including shield, spears, boomerang and a brolga bird. Colours are red, yellow, white and dark brown.

The hanging is an appropriated design of a Rainforest shield depicting the 'Star fish' totem of an Aboriginal group near Cairns. Since the Second World War it has been a popular practice to 'Indigenise' commercial designs to make them more 'Australian'. An image of the shield depicted in this design was first publicised by Ursula McConnel in ‘Inspiration and design in Aboriginal art’ in ‘Art in Australia’, 59 (Third Series, 15 May 1935), 1935, p.61, where she identified the design as ‘Star fish (dyd:ra madydi)’ belonging to the Gunggandji people in Yarrabah. The original shield is held in the South Australian Museum

Registration number: E20870
Classification: CH classification TOURISM
Name or title: Wall Hanging
Production place: Sydney/New South Wales/Australia
Production date: 1954-1958
History and use: The hanging is an appropriated design of a Rainforest shield depicting the 'Star fish' totem of an Aboriginal group near Cairns. Since the Second World War it has been a popular practice to 'Indigenise' commercial designs to make them more 'Australian'. An image of the shield depicted in this design was first publicised by Ursula McConnel in ‘Inspiration and design in Aboriginal art’ in ‘Art in Australia’, 59 (Third Series, 15 May 1935), 1935, p.61, where she identified the design as ‘Star fish (dyd:ra madydi)’ belonging to the Gunggandji people in Yarrabah. The original shield is held in the South Australian Museum
State / province: New South Wales
Country: Australia