Embossing Plate

A photographic image is reproduced on the metal plate which is etched with acid to create a print.

This set of drawings, intaglio prints and an embossed printing plate, represents the process of designing and executing an embossed intaglio print. The bas-relief carving such as is found in wooden chest fronts is the main influence for the design. The 'Oonangada' design is found on chests in which the wealth of the chiefs are stored. According to Swinton there is a similar image on an interior screen of the Edenshaw's ancestral home at Kiusta.

contemporary art

This image represents Oonangada (or Qonankadet), a supernatural sea creature who brought wealth and fortune to those lucky enough to gaze upon its face.

Metal embossing plate with etched form line and other areas in even low relief. Bilaterally symmetrical distributive design. Large central ovoid slopes down towards sides from the near top to the centre. Inside this large central ovoid, there are tapering oval eyes containing faces, a nose or beak with a circular centre, and a wide open mouth with two rows of twelve teeth and a tongue between the bottom teeth. Salmon-trout head ovoids at all four corners. Ears at the top near the centre are inverted double split u's. Face at the centre bottom with outward pointing, large human hands bent at the bottom elbow. Spaces are filled with split u's, some creating curving lines along the edge. There is a 1.6 cm border around the image. Metal has a thin surface coating with a pinkish tinge and darker smudges on the top surface. Lower etched surface has dark brown to dark grey spots. 'Fini $ JH' is incised at the lower left. Back surface has green paint coating.