- an inventory of string figures mounted on card, string figures on film, string figure photographs, and recordings of string figure songs
Compiled by Martin Probert
Other Archives with String Figure Artefacts
Survival, Origin and Mathematics of String Figures
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM
Acknowledgement: I wish to thank Phillip Manning, Manager of Australian Aboriginal Collections, for kindly supplying me with an editable copy of information relating to collections enquired about, and for drawing my attention to additional artefacts in the museum archives.
16 figures from the Northern Territory mounted on paper
- Reference number: 21968. The sixteen figures are individually stored but (Nov 2002) not individually recorded.
- Source: H.U. Shepherdson.
- Locality: Milingimbi, Arnhem Land.
- Stingray Spear
- Goanna
- Stingray
- Crocodile
- Wallaby's Intestines
- Sun
- Dead Man
- Tortoise
- Mutchichi
- Honey Comb
- Crab
- Native Companion
- Fire Sticks
- Mopoak
- Fresh Water Turtle
- Turtle Shell
21 figures from the Northern Territory mounted on brown paper
- Reference numbers: 4310-4323, 4324 (2 figures), 4325-4330.
- Source: Liebler
- Locality: MacDonnell Ranges
10 figures from Queensland taped on cardboard
- Source: collected by young school teacher
- Locality: Lake Nash
- 65608 House (worked with 2 different sets of string)
- 65609 Snake
- 65610 Stone
- 65611 Soak Water
- 65612 Yams
- 65613 4 Little Girls Walking
- 65614 Star (human hair string)
- 65615 Windmill (no Aboriginal word; human hair string)
- 65616 My Camp Bunk or Bed (human hair string)
- 65617 Fish (Register says 'Demonstrating Aboriginal manufacture and use of string')
64 figures from Central Australia figures mounted on paper
(Dashes --- indicate omission of a string figure name to avoid website blocking by filtering software.)
- Source: N.B. Tindale.
- Locality: Hermannsburg .
- 66735 Rabbit Bandicoot Game
- 69236 Dog Chasing Emu Across A Plain
- 69237 Gently running water (not flood stream)
- 69238 Spider/Big Spider Which Makes Strong Web Between Trees
- 69239 Butterfly
- 69240 Camel Rope
- 69241 Man Sitting Down
- 69242 Little Dog
- 69243 ---
- 69244 Crayfish
- 69245 Wooden Dish In Which Child Sleeps/One Takes Off One Others Hand
- 69246 Monkey
- 69247 Large Lizard
- 69248 ---
- 69249 Ground Lark
- 69250 Chickens
- 69251 Ducks
- 69252 Fish Six Inches Long Found In Kaporilya Springs
- 69253 Butterfly
- 69254 Two Women Sit Down
- 69255 Ring-Necked Parrot
- 69256 Native House
- 69257 Bandicoot
- 69258 Bird On Nest
- 69259 Little Bird
- 69260 Cloud
- 69261 Lizard
- 69262 Eagle
- 69263 Bull Ant
- 69264 Rock Hole
- 69265 Little Boy
- 69266 Snake (showing pattern of snake's back)
- 69267 ---
- 69268 ---
- 69269 Lizard
- 69270 Little Lizard
- 69271 Mythical Large Water Snake
- 69272 Deep Waterhole Without Ripples
- 69273 Woman With Child
- 69274 Man Sit Down
- 69275 2 Kngulya Dogs
- 69276 Paddock Fence
- 69277 Cooked Rabbit As Carried On A Stick/Rabbit
- 69278 Men/4 Men Sitting Down
- 69279 Centipede
- 69280 Witchetty Mob
- 69281 Crow Walking With Wings Drooped
- 69282 Bed
- 69283 Woman
- 69284 Beetle
- 69285 2 Women Fighting
- 69286 Saw
- 69287 Carpet Snake
- 69288 Eagle Hawk
- 69289 Carpet Snake
- 69290 Kind Of Snake
- 69291 Frog
- 69292 Stone
- 69293 Kwilakmila
- 69294 Two Kangaroos
- 69295 Native Mice Playing
- 69296 Bird
- 69297 Two figures made with European string
- 69298 Lizard
1 figure from South Australia mounted on paper
- Source: N.B. Tindale.
- Locality: Coorong.
- 66733 Fish Net. Possibly a replication by N.B. Tindale.
4 figures from South Australia mounted on card
- Source: N.B. Tindale.
- Locality: Diamantina district.
- 66734 Yam (represents stem and bulb of yam)
- 66736 Emu (stage 1) and Man Stalking (stage 2)
- 66737 Man Stalking Emu (stage 3) Which Is Caught
5 figures from South Australia mounted on brown paper
- Source: Dr D.S. Davidson, N.B. Tindale.
- Locality: Swan Reach
- 14957 Spear
- 14958 Net
- 14959 Two Turtles Mating On Log
- 14960 Two Men Fighting
- 14961 Four Men Fighting (made from A14960 by an additional movement)
1 figure from South Australia
- Source: Tindale, N.B.
- Locality: Koonibba
- 75838 Cluster of Ngura or Camps. Dated 1928.
1 figure from South Australia
- Source: Tindale, N.B.
- Locality: Manunka, River Murray
- 14962 Fishing Net
Photographs of string figures, Central Australia, West Australia, New South Wales
- Source: Tindale, N.B.
- Control AA 338/5.
- Loose photographic prints, b&w.
- 'Pintubi Tribe "Comet's" older wife shows a string game, Mt Liebig, C Aust'. August 1932.
- 'String game, Warupuju, Warburton Range, W.A.'. Game identified as eni na no name. August 1932.
- 'String game eni na ie no name, Warupuju, Warburton Ra WA'. August 1932.
- 'Ngadadjara Tr String game eni na ie no name, Warupuju, Warburton Ra, WA'. August 1935.
- '3 diamond string game, Pilliga, N.S.W.' 22 June 1938.
- '4 diamond string game, Pilliga, N.S.W.' 22 June 1938.
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Other Archives with String Figure Artefacts
The Mathematics and Origin of String Figures
Copyright Martin Probert 2002