Skip to main content

Search by:
Artists Artworks Resources

Advanced search

Djan'djari figure 1930s

Artwork Djan'djari figure this artwork made of Carved softwood with natural pigments, emu feathers bound with bush string and resin, created in 1930-01-01
Accession No.
2020.061
Date Created
1930s
Gallery location
Not on public display
Department
Indigenous Australian Art
Dimensions A
65.5 x 14 x 14cm
Media Category
Sculpture
Secondary Media Category
wood
Medium
Carved softwood with natural pigments, emu feathers bound with bush string and resin
Place Created
Thought to be Barambah (later Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement), Qld
Credit Line
Purchased 2020 with funds from the Mather Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation

Produced by Kabi Kabi man Fred Embrey at Manumbar in the 1930s, this genre of figurative carving is without equal in south-east Queensland. The figure represents Djan’djari, mischievous guardian spirits who live in the forest on Kabi Kabi Country and surrounds.

Carved figures such as this are artefacts of ceremony. Embrey’s great grandson Alex Bond describes the carving as:

Important cultural art that comes from Kabi Kabi mob . . . These are djan’djaris . . . little hairy men. ‘Djan’ is man, ‘djari’ is little. ‘Little man’.1

Fred Embrey (c.1874–1939) was a notable figure in the history of Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement and of Aboriginal performance and song in south-east Queensland. His Djan’djari is a rare object of national significance.

 

The Fred Embrey Sculpture Research Project confirmed Embrey created Djan'djari figure. You can explore a 3D model of the work, produced at QAGOMA through photogrammetry. 
 

Endnote

  1. Alex Bond and Paul Memmott, interview with Peter McKay, Brisbane, 24 February 2020.

 

Citations

Copy citation

Re-use metadata

Catalogue data as JSON

Share

Stories featuring this object

A photograph of the heads of two carved, figurative wooden sculptures
A CEREMONIAL FIGURE

Fred Embrey’s sculptures

Read
A small wooden figure being set up in a studio by a photographer.
A CEREMONIAL FIGURE

EXPLORE: The Embrey sculpture in 3D

Read
A photograph of a sculpture laid carefully on a support on a white turntable, to facilitate the process of photogrammetry.
A CEREMONIAL FIGURE

3D imaging at QAGOMA

Read INTERVIEW

Reproduction requests

Images of artworks on this website may be used for research, study and other related exceptions as defined by section 40 of the Copyright Act 1968 (as amended) without applying for specific permission. All other uses of the content of this site (where applicable).  Refer these requests to reproductions. For more information, see copyright and reproductions on the QAGOMA website.