New Guninea items -image heavy!

Just got back from a long weekend where a group of us were on a quest for anitque shopping and for me a visit to Bloomington IN.to pick up some New Guinea art pieces.
Although this may not appeal to you all, I thought it might to some. This man and his brother have a huge collection and one of the brothers is not only wondering about coming out to something like Exotica, but also wondering if he should just bring smaller items, or would some of you be interested in the higher buck large pieces? So if you like this stuff, PM me or leave some feedback here, so I can pass it on to Jerry.
Here comes the pictures:

My flash changed the color of this mask. It is really much more "earthy colored"

This is my fav. piece.

story board carving

This last set of pictures is of a very tall piece I bought, I never did fit the entire thng into one picture, so the first pic will be of the top portion, and then work my way down. This is about 6ft tall.



one last pictures of his backside, a beautiful bird like creature sits from the top figures head all the way to the floor.

very cool stuff exotica....looks like you
struck it rich on decorations for the tiki
lounge...i suppose some of the items were
fairly expensive...?

Well, I didn't find them to be too painful on my pocketbook. And I don't have that much "fun money" to throw around.It all goes for gas now days....

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Beautiful pieces. I'm gonna have to get me one of those oratory stools one of these days. Thanks for the pics.

Actually, I had already discussed stopping to see Jerry and John and Jack on my way to Exotica and bringing an SUV load with me to sell. I think they will be represented one way or another.

Yes, I mentioned to Jerry that I thought you may be by on the way to Exotica, I think he may be wondering what exotica is all about, and wants to check it out.Not sure. Hard to say if he will actually attend though. He was very nterested as to what size and price range people would be interested in. I couldn't tell him as I was still trying to pick my jaw up off the ground and trying to stop drooling like a dog looking at a pork chop! Amazing amount of stuff. We talked about your orators stool, he really liked that piece! I do too for that matter. That's what got me interested in New Guinea tribal art. Although some of pieces I picked up will not go in the tiki lounge area, I think they add alittle primitive mystery to the more traditional tiki pieces I have.

Does he have a finite supply or does he still have new pieces coming over??

You know that is a question I didn't think to ask. Maybe Swanky knows more.
I only visited the one brother, Jerry. I believe that his brother also has a large amount. Maybe even more.. Again Swanky would have the inside track.

They go over to the islands about twice a year. They usually fill a cargo container and ship it back. They keep a large supply on hand. They have sold tons over the years. Jack started in 1969 as an anthropologist. He brought back stuff and sold to universities and museums out of his car to finance his return trips. Jack has not been in good health in the last couple of years, but his brother makes the trips.

95% of what you see is original stuff used in ceremony, etc. A very small amount is "tourist" stuff. There is simply no tourism in PNG to support it. They also have atradition of throwing out stuff and remaking it regularly. And so, it gets stocked up and sold to a few collectors like Jack and Jerry.

I was kind of wondering exactly what qualified as "Tiki". Does it have to be Polynesian inspired? I have some carved wooden plaques from the Philipines, I picked up in a junk shop near Portland. I would describe them as depicting water spirits. I thought they were Pacific Northwest native American, but one day I found the word Phillipines carved in tiny letters on the back. They look right at home with my Hawaiiana, but would also look fine next to a totem poll.
I have seen things for sale on the web described as South American native "Tikis" and African "Tikis", even Chinese "Tikis". I guess any carved piece of primitive art or anything impired by it is now a "Tiki". Is this correct?
Don't get me wrong. I am not knocking it. I just find it curious.

On 2005-05-04 03:58, nuimaleko wrote:
I was kind of wondering exactly what qualified as "Tiki". Does it have to be Polynesian inspired? I have some carved wooden plaques from the Philipines, I picked up in a junk shop near Portland. I would describe them as depicting water spirits. I thought they were Pacific Northwest native American, but one day I found the word Phillipines carved in tiny letters on the back. They look right at home with my Hawaiiana, but would also look fine next to a totem poll.
I have seen things for sale on the web described as South American native "Tikis" and African "Tikis", even Chinese "Tikis". I guess any carved piece of primitive art or anything impired by it is now a "Tiki". Is this correct?
Don't get me wrong. I am not knocking it. I just find it curious.

I have seen it the other way around more. Tikis referred to as totems.

As far as what goes in your bar, that's your taste. The Trader Vic's logo is a Papua New Guinea mask. There is a sort of umbrella of "exotic tropical island culture" that all goes just fine. Flotsom and jetsom.

Nuimaleko-

You should know that 'round these parts, however, hackles get raised at calling an Aztec piece "tiki," or tropical parrot art "tiki." Yes, you'll see it advertised that way on eBay, but the bulk of the folks on Tiki Central are rather purist in their (our) enthusiasm.

I saw on your other post about the collection of paintings you possess, and you correctly identified tham as Hawaiiana, rather than strictly tiki. Many (most?) folks here have quite the mix of old/new, Hawaiiana/strictly tiki, with maybe Asian (usually Chinese) stuff thrown in the mix. Some, however, stick with Only Old Mugs, or Everything Munktiki Ever Made. Most of us, if we admitted it, grab anything we see in B.O.T. ("The Book of Tiki"), as we know SOMEBODY we know along the line will want it or trade for it, even if it doesn't fit into our collection :wink:

Like Swanky said, flotsam and jetsom - many here will have nautical stuff too adorning our home bars, a la Trader/Beachcomber. (If you went to the South Seas back when, you probably went by boat and traded along the way.) So you'll see mermaids, fishing nets, captain's wheels, knots, corks, Japanese glass fishing floats, etc.

I may get some "I disagree"'s out of this, but I said it!

Thanks. I know there is a lot of confusion (but probably not here) between hula, luau, surfer, seashore and tiki. I do find it funny when you see tikis, tropical flowers, conch shells, palm trees, surf boards, parrots, toucans, monkeys, flamingos and hula girls with leopard and zebra patterns thrown in the mix, all tied up with a raffia bow. (Actually, throw in a lot of Indian, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, Tibetan and Mexican stuff and it sounds a lot like my house, so I guess it's not that funny)
I guess when you get to that point you are in Exotica, not Tiki land.