Item TB143
This Item was Sold on 19 July 2008
for $74
Similar artifacts for sale are often found on the Aboriginal
Boomerangs web page.
Historical Pricing information for this item and similar artifacts
can be found at: Historical Artifact
Prices.
This returning style boomerang was made out of a nearly
flawless hardwood elbow and decorated with Australian
Aboriginal art on the upper surface. The wood is Black
Wattle, a very hard species with a beautiful figured dark
grain. The shape and airfoil profiling is very similar to
that found on good Aboriginal boomerangs that were made in
Queensland. The underside has a circular mark indicating
that there was once a label or stamp indicating that this
boomerang was made in Queensland. This is a nice example of
a boomerang that was made for the tourist industry more than
60 years ago. Excellent condition, but with light surface
wear as expected. Span = 43 cm ; Weight = 104 gm
Australian Aborigines are well known for making boomerangs.
The majority of the Aborigines had the technology to make
throwsticks, or non-returning boomerangs. Only a small
percentage of the tribal groups knew how to make true
returners and most of these came from the eastern coastal
regions of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. During
the past century, the majority of the Aborigines came out of
the bush and were somewhat assimilated into the European
man's culture. Many Aborigines began making returning style
boomerangs to sell to tourists. The earliest ones were well
made out of natural timber and with the grain following the
curvature of the boomerang. Today, most hardwood boomerang
are cut out of a large board and the grain is usually
straight and running parallel to a line spanning the tips of
the blades. Boomerangs that are made with the grain
following the contour of the blades are much stronger and
more valuable. In addition, some boomerangs have good
airfoiling. The majority do not. Most "tourist boomerangs"
have painted upper surfaces that display Australian animals
and decorative lines and/or geometric patterns. Most
pre-contact returners have no artwork or the artwork is
simple and scratched into the surface. It is easy to tell
the tourist boomerang from the valuable ethnographic
artifact. However, tourist boomerangs that are made properly
with the grain running along the contour and with good
airfoiling and art work do have good collectable value,
especially if they are made by a famous Aboriginal artists,
like Bill Onus or Joe Timbery.
How to Order | Back to: Aboriginal Boomerangs | Collectable Artifacts | Historical Artifact Prices | contact: Ted Bailey