This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Short St Gallery which states:
‘This design shows the markings of Aubrey’s language groups.
This shell is what the young men wear after they have gone through a number of different stages of initiations. It is the third last stage of the initiation of a young man. After the final stage he is allowed to be with his promised wife. Prior to being fully initiated he can only talk to her and no physical contact is allowed. A man is a bongan for 2-4 years. The whole initiation process from boyhood to manhood takes about 8-10 years. The stages for the arnkooy ceremony are Niyamniyam when the people decide the young boy is ready for law. Then Layanyarr, which involved his brothers-in-law painting him with fat, he is then taken to the law ground for ceremony, when he comes back from the law ground he is called balil. When they are in oolooloong ceremony (the second ceremony of initiation) they are called joodoor. When they are finished the oolooloong ceremony they are jamoonoonggoorr. When they get hand strings and move into the next oolooloong ceremony they become gambil boys. After about a year they become roonggoorr, they are about 15-16 years of age and they were eagle feathers in their hair. Next is boongan it is for a young man who has been through law and has a hairbelt and pearlshell put on him, he then waits for the red paint stage (about 2-3 years). The red paint stage is called ilyboorr and the boy is now a man and is free to marry. After the red paint he is called maambangan.’