Post #214819 by boutiki on Wed, Feb 15, 2006 1:27 PM

We are fortunate enough to have a few pieces by Benzart in our collection and thought it would be fun to share pictures of these treasures. Our fist piece was acquired from an antique mall in South Florida in December of 2003– Ben joined Tiki Central the following January. When we got the Lono, we had no idea who had done it, we just loved the Tiki and the quality of the carving. Through Tiki Central we made Ben's acquaintance and we ended up sharing a table with him and his wife Sherry at the Hukilau that fall. They were both such nice people and so easy to talk to, we hit it off right away. I loved seeing photos of all of Ben's old work and proud to have such a wonderful example of it. For that Hukilau, Ben brought a bunch of pendant necklaces that were quickly bought up and one large scale piece that he'd held on to from the old days. I'm guessing that everyone just assumed it was for display only because he still had it at the end of the weekend. Well, we struck a deal, and that big mask became part of our collection as well. I bought my favorite pendant that weekend, and asked Ben to make one that I could give Amy as a gift. He did an amazing, delicate, detailed version of the Kona Kai Tiki for her—so our Benzart collection grew.

This January Ben started work on another large Lono and I could tell from early on that it was going to be a good one. I mean, they all are good, but something about this one struck me as special. I emailed him right away. Luckily, I was the first to speak up and therefore got first dibs on what soon became a crazy-cool, super-detailed and intense Tiki. We are just so thrilled to have this Tiki in our Tabu Tiki Room!

So here are some pictures of our Benzart treasures starting with the most recent:

The new Lono arrived just as we were heading out to dinner at the Chef Shangri-La, so he went for a ride and was unveiled at the Chef:

Here he is next to the vintage Ben Davis Lono:

Next to our Tiki from the Imperial Luau (thanks BK!):

In our lounge:

This is the wall mask:

Here are our pendants:

Amy and I consider ourselves very lucky to have these great carvings and to count Ben and Sherry among our friends. And aren't we all lucky that Ben discovered Tiki Central, got back into carving Tiki, and is now creating more master works for everyone to enjoy? If you have a piece by Benzart, please add pictures of it here. I'd love to see pendants and carvings of his in their new homes (or around their owners necks) and I know it would make Ben happy to see his work being appreciated and enriching someone's Tiki world.

-Duke