Post #163089 by Trader Woody on Thu, Jun 2, 2005 1:57 PM

On 2005-06-02 06:34, Swanky wrote:
I can get you one of these for about $75... Maybe not as old...

Does anyone know at what point Oceanic masks (and other artifacts) stop being cool $75 Tiki room decorations and start being a down payment on a new house? I assume it's not just based on age (obv. quality has a major part in it too). What else? The fact that it's appeared in a museum?

I bought a Sepik mask a while ago, just for decorative purposes, but it is certainly old (the feathers look ancient & there's some dust of many decades on it) and the seller said it was brought over back in the 19th century. I bought it very cheaply, so nobody would have gone to that much trouble to fake it's age.

Am I rich? Just kidding - I just see a lot of Oceanic stuff here and there and find it very difficult to price. A lot of stuff is obviously cheap tourist knock-off junk (still great for the bar), but other is just impossible to guess the age & value of. Any pros out there know what makes one piece worth vastly more than another?

Trader Woody