Post #420271 by atomictonytiki on Sat, Nov 22, 2008 8:50 AM

In response to Tikiracers inspired Devil's Reef collectibles topic, TravelingJones posted the following picture as an example of a possible Cthulhu tiki mug.

The sight of this "Devil's Reef" mug raised the hair on the back of my neck, not for the dread implications of such a terrible vessel but since I have known of this mug for sometime and had known it as the "Maltese Tiki mug".

This I should note is not because it was the central McGuffin in a Noir detective adventure but due to it being marked "Malta" on the base.

Excited by the sight of another Maltese/devil's reef mug I got in contact with TravelingJones..

Hi TravelingJones,
where did you get that mug you posted on the Tikiracer Devil Reef thread? I have two of them and mine are marked "Malta" on the bottom, I always thought they were part copies of "Orchid of Hawaii" headhunter mugs.

..and Jonesy responded..

ALoooHA Johann!

Coool, I was wondering if anyone else had one of these...you've got two! Mine is marked "Malta 6P" on bottom. It's a crudely carved pottery (even the handle is offset on backside). I just figured it was a homemade pottery craft? I got it off eBay a couple years ago from Australia. No idea of it's origin (if NZ?) My specimen is a light cocoa powder/ brown-ish tan color.

What's story on yours Johann?
Shoootz,
Jonesey

..and i shot back..

Aren't they most horrible mugs ever?

The mugs were the first ever ceramic tiki mugs I found and for years I was in two minds whether they were actual tiki mugs. Then I found out that that you can have tiki mugs produced outside of the US, so then I started thinking how come they casting on them is quite detailed in some parts and really crap-tacular in others?

Then one day i saw a picture of a Orchids of Hawaii R-1 headhunter mug..

...and I figured out that in fact the "Devil Reef" tiki mug possibly started out as a copy of the headhunter but had been cut down in size from a tall mug into short mug with a handle.

I guess some tiki bar in malta needed tiki mugs but rather than import them had a local pottery to knock up these as bootlegs.

I have some CSI style pictures I did comparing the two mugs, would you mind if i start a thread about the mug and quote your message?

cheers

Johann

...and with Jonseys' approval I started this thread.

The "Devil's Reef Mug" isn't the only Eurotiki mug that was counterfeited so brazenly, below we have the "Ghost of a clown" PMP
!
from Majorca (a direct copy made of the original) and the Arte 4

totem pole topper mug adapted from an Orchids of Hawaii design.

[ Edited by atomictonytiki on 2022-07-04 13:43:30 ]