Post #401769 by Louiethefish on Sun, Aug 17, 2008 10:35 AM

Aloha Allen Tiki! I have been making hook and lure replicas for over 30 years, and here are two not very good pics of two showcases I made about 5 years ago. I dont do all that many, but just finished one which will go into the National Park Office in American Samoa. The crowning lure to make in my opinion is the famous large Tongan Tuna lure, with whale bone shank, pearl shell along the bottom, and the point carved from thick, highly endangered Hawksbill Turtle side plates. I can fake one these days with cow bone, and pearl shell, and replacing the turtle shell point with Water buffalo horn in amber color if you can find it. I also found that moose antler can make big Feau-whalebone hooks. My showcases are all over the Pacific, in big hotels, airports, conference rooms, banks private homes, and even one in the American Samoa Museum! The one I just did has a copy of a Hawaiian Whalebone Shark hook collected by Captain Cook on his second voyage here, now held in the British Museum, and the original can be seen online. Way back when I could work in Whalebone, I did three Maori War clubs from the rib of a humpback whale, all three very famous pieces held in museums, including a Patu Paraoa and Kotiate from the Captain Cook collection, and a Wahaika held in the Taranaki Museum, with a tiki figure on one side. I will try to scan some old pics to post here later. Louie