Post #351244 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Dec 25, 2007 9:50 PM

So in the spirit of Christmas (and Starbucks), I am passing the cheer to all T.C.ers with this extensive Tiki archeology post:

First, on a little humorous side note, totally unrelated to what will follow, here is my favorite misspelling of my (first) name on a Starbuck's cup so far !:

...rhymes with "fun"!
So after I got home from Africa, I pulled out "Oceanic Arts" (as mentioned on the first page of this thread) from my book shelf, and lo and behold, the PNG spirit hook that was freed from its rubber cocoon DID come from its pages:

But after thoroughly leafing through this influential tome again, I must admit I overstated some things, such as the fact that almost ALL of Will's discovered casts were taken from the books pages, and that MOST statues in the book are seen from two view...which in fact is rather the exception. But nevertheless, here is an example of a beautiful Tiki that WAS found as a cast (see previous page), and IS shown from two sides in the book:

So here is a treatise on the multitude of Polynesian (and Melanesian!) Pop objects that were inspired by this art book, whose cover looks like this:

It definitely had a major hand in decking the halls of the Mai Kai. Let's look at this shot of the atrium for example:

No, the PNG orator chair statue is NOT in the book (and the Easter Island paddle on the back wall is from "Arts of the South Seas")...but look at this cast of characters, all culled from its pages:

(Please note that the Cook Islands Tiki's EYES and TEETH in the garden photo were painted on later, ...oy vey)

And here is one of the entrances to the atrium (as can be seen in TIKI MODERN):

...and WHO do we have here:

But as I stated earlier, the Mai Kai was by far not the only mid-century Tiki temple whose decor was partially based on the book. Here are two examples from the Kahiki:

I always thought that this shield was too cartoony to be authentic, but apparently it was just that:

I included the carving on the opposite page, because I KNOW I have seen it in situ in some Polynesian posada, but cannot recall which, nor do I have a photo of it. Perhaps the Tonga Room?
Does anybody else here have a shot of it?

And here is Michael Tsao (R.I.P.) with a garishly painted Ku, who once looked closer to this:

This guy became headless at Aloha Jhoe's in Palm Springs:

Soooo.... how come all these places all over the states were pulling their pagan idols from this one source? Because Oceanic Arts in Whittier was their supplier, and they had the book! And they made good use of it, be it for lamps...

....or any kind of wall decor, like masks:

The original in the book

The O.A. version, available in three sizes, in the 1970 catalog

An "embellished" (ahem) version for the "Night of the Tiki" show in 2001

The classic stained design, still available at O.A., one of their best deals (this type also hangs at the Mai Kai since its beginnings!)

I could go on and on, but I think I made my point. Hopefully this has not been too de-mystifying, but rather enlightening. Archeology is about tracing things back to their origins, and this post hopefully proves again what an incredible variety of art forms and styles was employed in classic Tiki style, and might encourage today's Tiki artists to go beyond the ever-the-same toothy grinned pop Tiki that is so prevalent nowadays.

In closing, a classic image from the Mai Kai:

Mele Kalikimaka to all!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-12-25 21:55 ]