I've found out a little bit more history regarding this bowl. First off, John (aka Aquatic Safarinaut) was super kind enough to ask the fine folks at Trader Vic's about this bowl. Kier Fullmer at Trader Vic's forwarded the info to Peter Seely who is the CEO and Trader Vic's grandson. Here's Kier reply:
Hi,
I showed the pictures to Peter and he said that Dickman Walker made some for the San Francisco restaurant on Cosmo.
He has one with a different color scheme.
Peter loved it!
If I get any more info on the bowl (year it was released), I will let you know.
Have a great day!
~Kier
Mahalo John, Kier and Peter for that great info. So it was actually used at Trader Vic's and others were made. Also, with the San Francisco Trader Vic's opening in 1951, the bowl isn't any older than that. But I also found out some more info about the maker of the bowl.
Dickman Walker (born circa 1908) was indeed quite an accomplished artist and potter. He won numerous awards for his pottery in 1940s. He eventually moved to San Francisco in the late 40s where he started his studio. Unfortunately Dickman Walker passed away in 1953. Sadly he died relatively young and not sure how.
With the San Francisco Trader Vic's opening in 1951 and Dickman Walker passing away in 1953, we can now safely date the three Tiki bowl within that time frame. Hope that helps your timeline Sven. The rest is guess work but I would imagine that soon after Trader Vic contacted Tepco to make the same bowls based on this design. Probably around the time they expanded into the Hilton chain. Not sure when that exactly happened.
Either way, some interesting info regarding the history of this bowl all thanks to the Tiki Central community and Trader Vic's. Curious to see what the other bowl with the different color scheme looks like as well as other pieces Dickman Walker might have made for Trader Vic's.
The plane! The plane!
[ Edited by: Tattoo 2012-09-27 20:04 ]
