ADELAIDE1967

Title: A message stick listed on US eBay in 2022 with images of a naked man and woman

Description: From seller fyrfytrh8sfyr: "AUSTRALIAN MESSAGE STICK Man & woman nudes ~late 19th to mid-20th century Vintage Australian Message Stick ~ Male & Female nude art 10" x 1-5/8" x 1/8" (see photos) Extremely rare, most likely late 1800s to mid 1900s. This amazing historical artifact is extremely rare, in that it depicts a female nude on one side with a male nude on the other. There is no telling evidence of what the nudes are depicting. It could be ritualistic, sexual in nature, or maybe a message of pregnancy in the female? This piece is beautifully thin, but almost inflexible hard wood. It also has a very aged and smooth shiny texture. What a great piece of historical art!"

Item type: message stick from a private sale

Notes: eBay item number:325353165873 PK wrote to seller on 23 Sept 2022: "Can you tell me anything about the provenance of this message stick? Or who created it or commissioned it to be made?" yrfytrh8sfyr replied: "Hi, thanks for asking. This message stick was purchased at an antique store in Adelaide around 1967 or 68. My wife’s father purchased it while searching for historic artifacts. He was told that it was MUCH older than that. No other history was known." PK: Note tjurunga style patterns

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Data Entry: Piers Kelly