iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Attached is a pic of a wooden turtle carving measuring 35 cm in length. It has red and white pigment decoration. What's it worth???

There's no right or wrong answer of course, but thought I'd give you an opportunity to test out your valuation skill. If I had it here for sale, would you buy it for $6, $60? $600? $6000?

Guan

Although you have not given us much information regarding this item, my estimation would be around 1000-1500 $AUD.

Hi Mahir,

The idea is to not give too much information, but to try to see if we can identify and put a value on things based purely on appearance. Because sometimes there are situations where we don't have much to go on, but identifying something accurately could be life-changing. By that, I mean it could make you a lot of money. But I'll tell more after more people have guessed the value of this wooden carving.

Guan

Hi Guan

Interesting game, Value is always a contentious issue as there are diffrent areas ie personal value, market value etc. What I personaly would pay for something may be totally different to what others would, or the value I place on an item may be well above what people would pay. So I believe if people play along with this you should get some interesting answers.

And market value depends I guess alot on location around the world especially when it comes to cultural items and historical items. for example if this im assuming an Australian Aboriginal item there will undoutedly be a larger market in Australia and the southern hemesphere than say in Europe as a whole or the Americas. and a Native American piece will fetch much more up here than say down under.

Personally (as I dont know anything about its history or provanance) as an item in its own right in a oohh thats nice to look at I wouldnt pay much more than about 30 quid for it if I say saw it at a car boot sale or an auction house.

however I would say that there is more to it and the general market value would be some where between 250 - 400 quid ish?

Hi Stockie, good response and market value was what I was getting at. But even that can be contentious.

Guan

I wouldn't risk myself to a price estimation as I don't have enough knowledge of both Aboriginal artefacts and the arts & craft market.
Still I have enough common sense and taste to note that this piece of art is beautiful ! The tortoise seems nearly alive, there's a stunning impression of movement in the position.
On the other hand, Indonesian arts&craft imitations* often "look nice" too... and still don't have any cultural or pecuniary value. Just to say that the "look" is often misleading.
Still, it appears quite clear that this is a genuine artefact, made individually (as opposed to the "taylorist" methods used elsewhere).
The final value will depend in my opinion on :
> the age of the artefact (old or recent ? and HOW old ?)
> the value it has for the people who crafted it (sacred or just a toy?)
> the famousness of the crafter
> the specific story of that objet (has it been in the hands of ethnologues, in museums' glasses, in sacred ceremonies, well hidden for a long time in a sacred site ?)
etc...
And without any more informatins on this, I'm affraid we just cannot answer your question...

* edit : I'm talking about the market for their imitations of Aboriginal and African objects (Didjeridu included!).
Indonesians are great crafters and have a really nice tradition of crafting that is REALLY worth something (culturally and pecuniary)... It's just a shame that they export mainly cheap African & Aboriginal imitations instead of their own beautiful culture's arts&crafts.

Hi Francis,

The item is not new put it that way, it wasn't just made yesterday or in the last 10 years for that matter.

I don't know the value the item has for the crafter or the people from which this carving came from though there is speculation what it could be used for, I believe the piece is functional rather than decorative, yet it is not sacred and is not a toy either.

The crafter is unknown.

The background to this item is that it has been in private hands, no other information about its history is known.

Guan

Taking all of the above into consideration I'd say the item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it!

If it could be accurately attributed to a tribe/craftsman/time period I should think a decent valuation could be proposed.

Kyle

Hi Kyle,

How much would you pay for it out of interest?

Guan

To be honest Guan, I'm not that particularly fond of this piece due partly to the fact that the front flippers are missing. The incised linework and ochre inlay is interesting but this piece reminds me more of work from the New Guinea (Sepik) than it does anything Aboriginal.

It may well be worth quite a bit, but I'd not part with more than a hundred dollars (AUD) or so for the item and truthfully I'd not be interested in it in its current state.

Kyle

Hi Kyle,

The piece is complete actually, the front flippers are incised into the wood rather than protruding out, close-up pic attached. The hole that is apparent I think is for threading, maybe it is supposed to be tied to something with rope?

I very much like the piece aesthetically, however, when I first saw it I could not place where it was from... certainly not the typical incised carvings from eastern Arnhem Land from the 1960s-70s period usually honed from softwood. I thought maybe it could be a rangga figure, perhaps from Western Arnhem Land. Goulburn/Croker Islands?

Guan

Yes, I suppose it could be a rangga type figure. It's the grey base colour that sets it apart it my mind and this which most reminds me of the more 'tribal' pacific island work. You may well be right about the hole being for a thread/rope of some sort but I still can't help thinking that the front flippers should be attached similarly to those at the back instead of being alluded to in incised relief.

[quote="ididjaustralia"]I believe the piece is functional rather than decorative, yet it is not sacred and is not a toy either[/quote]

A clue or an idea on the functionality ?

Hi Guan,

funny game...

I guess, the artefact is no fake. What puzzles me is the wire on its belly. Is this an attachment?
If the hole goes through the whole body, it seems likely, that some rope was intended to be inserted. The bore seems to be too small to be a good mount for flippers or another wooden structure. For an item of daily use it is not handy enough. If it had been used, the rear flippers would probably have been broken off. If there had been some rope going through the hole with tension on it, it must have left a mark.
So it could be a sacred figurine or something like that. It is made really good, the soul of the tortoise can be felt in the piece, it looks very alive. it's in good condition, so someone looked after it, needed it, or loved it. In my opinion it is older than 60 years. I would say it is a valuable artefact.

so you still do not wanna reveal the truth Guan?