Robert Prenzel's 'Juanju', Waluningma tribe portrait

Robert Prenzel (1866-1941), 'Juanju', a woman of the Waluningma tribe, Gilbert River, North Queensland, after J.W. Lindt, black chalk, ink, watercolour, and paint on paper, signed and dated lower right: Robt. Prenzel 1922, 56 x 38.5 cm, Other Notes: The origin, meaning, and variety of Prenzel's 1920s carved hardwood portraits of indigenous Australian men and women is discussed by Terence Lane in his Robert Prenzel, 1866-1941: his life and work (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1994), pp 37-40, one of the rarer types of these portraits - 'Juanju', an example of which, dated 1922, was recently sold by Leonard Joel (decorative Arts, 5 December, 2022, lot 69) - is based on a photograph made by Prenzel's friend J.W. Lindt which was captioned ''Juanju', Waluningma tribe. Gilbert river. N.Q.' (Lindt's photo numbered 2127, a print of which was sold at Gibson's Auctions, the Australian collection, June 16, 2019, lot 138, a differently posed photo by Lindt of the same subject is illustrated in Lane, pl. 68), the present drawing, which generally follows Lindt's photo 2127 closely and was made the same year as the 'Juanju' recently sold by Leonard Joel, was presumably made as part of Prenzel's process of converting Lindt's photo into sculptural form.