ABORIGINAL TJURUNGA / CHURINGA
AUSTRALIA
African & Oceanic Art, Natural History and Ancient Art
Auction: 30 July 2025 from 14:00 BST
Description
stone, worked incisions with central spiral and dots with semi-circle details on each side of the flat, oval surface; raised on a bespoke mount
Dimensions
17.5cm high
Provenance
Alex Phillips, Melbourne, Australia
Private collection, Belgium, acquired from the above
Footnote
Also known as ‘churingas’. The Aranda are a group of Aboriginal Australians from central Australia. The word ‘Tjurunga’ derives from the Arrernte word Tywerenge, which means ‘sacred’ or ‘precious’. They were the ancestors' most treasured possessions, with myths emphasising their magical properties. Each person was believed to have been a reincarnated ‘ancestral’ spirit being, their essential sacred essence expressed in the physical tjurunga form. During initiation, a youth received his own tjurunga and was gradually introduced by tribal elders to the secret knowledge concerning their own and other tjurunga, the ritual practices and belief systems passed down from one generation to the next. The intricate designs, engraved using possum teeth, recorded legends, with the various symbols serving to remind the reciter of the narrative. The markers have hundreds of different meanings, with the number of conventionalised symbols very small. The sacred nature of the tjurnuga meant that they could only be seen by initiated men during times of ceremony, with women and children strictly banned from laying eyes on them. Although tjurunga exist across Australia, the finest decorated stone examples come from Central Australia.