This a large and ancient wood churinga from Australia’s Central Desert region. It has the classic concentric circles carved in relief and then over-painted with a complex design of a meandering chain of black loops interspersed with white dots all on a red ochre base. The colors and carving have softened with time. The churinga is one of the Australian Aboriginal’s most cherished ancestral objects and this example was obviously very important as evidenced by its great age combined with its complex and layered carved and painted design. The piece is 61 ½" in height, has the obvious age crack at the top, dates to the late 19th century and sells for $7500. Questions?