Post #433348 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Feb 9, 2009 1:43 PM

On 2009-02-08 19:16, multinesia wrote:
I would say definitely not Rarotongan; have never seen anything like it in the Cooks.

Dang, I had hoped the response would be something like "...and my grand-uncle's second cousin used to run this little souvenir shop for the cruise ship passengers, and knows of this old hermit that lived in a shack on the so-and-so beach, who carved in this style." :)

It is just so unusual: A Tiki face on a humanoid body. The only type of "South Sea" tourist carvings I am aware of that feature that kind of dynamic, naturalistic body posture are these head hunter figures from Indonesia:

These could be found at Polynesian restaurants during the Tiki period. But there is no way the spear fisher carving above is from that tradition. The smooth, realistic style of these statues is the opposite of the rough adze-marked style of our man in question. That style is also different from any Marquesan/Tahitian carvings I have encountered.