Skip to main content
Collections Menu
SAM'S collection
Image Not Available for Double Figure
Double Figure
Image Not Available for Double Figure

Double Figure

Date2001
Label TextTwisting and turning, this figure depicts people in disguise. Wearing false beards and painting their bodies, a person could make themselves unrecognizable to the spirits of the deceased who might want to cause them harm. Tiwi Islanders carefully observe a number of restrictions to ensure that the spirit safely departs to join other deceased relatives.
Object number2005.157
Provenance[Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2001
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Sorry Business, July 30, 2001 - January 2, 2006
Credit LineGift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
Dimensions55 1/8 in. (140 cm)
MediumNatural pigments with bark on ironwood
Pedro (Gurrumaiyuwa) Wonaeamirri
1999
Object number: 2005.154
Photo: iocolor, Seattle
ca. 1986
Object number: 2019.20.18
Photo: iocolor, Seattle
2005
Object number: 2019.20.19
Photo: iocolor, Seattle
2005
Object number: 2019.20.20
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Tanzanian
20th century
Object number: 2012.29.21
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Cote d'Ivoire
20th century
Object number: 2012.29.20