MusV_X_101198

Title: A message stick from the Central Desert, Northern Territory, in Museums Victoria

Description: MV object description, PDF: "Wood carved and pokerwork message stick. Stick is cylindrical with tapered pointed ends, surface has been decorated with designs in bands across the width of lines and dots in an irregular pattern; stick is light brown in colour."

Date Created: 2003

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem (date of donation in online register, as captured by PK, was 22 March 2003)

Item type: message stick in a collection

Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Desert Central, Northern Territory

Motifs: surface has been decorated with designs in bands across the width of lines and dots in an irregular pattern

Dimension 1: 342mm Dimension 2: 35mm Dimension 3: 35mm

Materials: wood

Techniques: carved and pokerwork

Institution/Holder file: Museums Victoria object identifier: X 101198

Collector: Ann Crawford

Media copyright: Museums Victoria

Notes: MV PDF: 2003–03–22 (donated) 2005–08-08 (registered) MusV data: "X 101198, Message stick, Desert Central, Northern Territory, Australia, Registered [DDX 3882] Crawford, Mrs Ann:Donor (Donation, 22 Mar 2003) Northern Territory " 21.11.24 PK: The catalogue sheets for the Christensen Fund are in a separate box and with a separate set of accession numbers prefixed with CC. They are not easily matched to items in EMu. PK eyeballed some of these sheets and found many tjurungas and two message sticks (there may be more). At least one of these message sticks was described in very similar terms as a tjurunga. This item, and others in the Christensen collection will first need to be associated with the paper catalogue sheets. Circumstantially, the Christensen "message sticks" may be ceremonial boards. This is not a tjurunga and it looks like punu.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Piers Kelly, Alexandra Roginski