The show me your Witco thread.

Just got this guy today at a thrift store. Twenty bucks. 48" long by 14" wide. I'm almost sure it's Witco. Could any one help with a positive ID? And should I put a coat of wax on it? Thanks.

That is.....WAIT-A-MINNIT ! I don't believe that Witco ever made the BIG EYE version of their primitic cats, that was a smart twist put on the classic Witco design by our good ol' BOSKO! But a Bosko in a thrift store, in Kalamazoo, for twenny bucks? Bosko, correct me if I'm wrong...

Bigbro I looked all over this thing and can find no markings. It has definite age patina to the wood and had a good layer of dust.I wiped the dust off with a damp rag and got allot of nicotine too. Location seems right I have pulled allot of vintage furniture from the same store. Here's a couple more pics.

Frame stock measures 1 5/8" by 5/8" on the cat I measured the frame stock of my war club Witco down in my lounge and its the same size and appears to be of the same wood. I put a few more pics of the cat on page thirteen showing the wood close-up and the back. please take a look.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2007-08-25 14:02 ]

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2007-08-25 14:04 ]

The tint of that color is an exact Witco match, too. And with the traces of nicotine on it....it must be vintage, then. I just always thought that the one I saw in Bosko's living room was HIS own carving....well, there you go, I am not infallible!

Bosko DOES make a very fine version of this design, though, you will see it IN Tiki Modern :)

We were in Long Beach when Sven wrote asking if I saw this post, the piece is amazing but I have never seen this design? When I first saw the top portion we both swore it was one of mine but as we scrolled down the legs gave it away as a Witco. I have never seen this version and we own many of their cat pieces, I recognize the background I think it was part of a pair? Mr. Westenhaver told us that often times the carving guys would get overly creative (which the company discouraged) when supervisors were out they would have races or tweak designs; perhaps this is one of those? When he came by here in 99 he pointed out several pieces in our collection which should never have passed quality control or left the factory.

Who knows what else is out there, it is a wonderful piece, congratulations.

Bosko

its called Vertical cat w-440 should measure 14x48 with the background colors of white and sand. I will post a picture tomorrow.

Thanks guys for all the info. This is my second piece found in the wild. Thought I hit the jackpot with the huge war club piece but when I saw this from across the store I about fell over trying to get to it. It measures 14x48 as Keigs said. I'd love to see a period picture. Thanks again

Posting a couple of pictures of the Witco "fountain of fortune" in it's temporary home in my garage. I figure it will winter here and summer in Tropicanada at the beach house. It dresses up quite nice and attracts the neighbors. I think I will put a sign up to throw money in the dish. It's costing me a lot of beer, lol!!
The antique copper and brass masthead light is the real mccoy and a family heirloom. I am planning on putting a bulb in it to cast an "erie" glow over the whole thing. More to come.... thanks for looking.

Two last photos

Here's two Witco's that I have had for a while in storage. I am up for a trade or sale if anybody is interested, just drop me a line. Not up my alley but thought someone will have a good home for them. They are in good shape.

Mahalo, TabooDan

How about this guy? I found him for $5 at a garage sale 2 weekends ago and he's in beautiful condition. I love his modernist shape. 27" tall. Is it a cat or a llama?

Hey Sabu,

Maybe it's a cama?

Or a llat?

We have one just like it although ours is painted black and it's a llama much smaller head than yours, someone really went crazy on your guys ears.

Bosko

It's a "Clama".

This is from the Witco Catalogue:

Item #CL6732. Clama. Big ear version. Whsle 7.75

Hey Bosko, you actually own some Witco? I wanna see! Why not photo your whole collection and share on this thread??? C'mon, big guy!

Well this is my first Witco find in over a year. It has been a dry spell around here. Found this at an antique mall today. The guys booth was full of mid century modern stuff. I guess he hasn't seen your book yet Sven. I got it for $20.00 It was dirty and I cleaned it up. Tahitian Lovers. It is missing the back mount and frame. It had nails and screws like my globe and out rigger so I am sure it originally had it. Although I love the way it looks in Tiki Modern, for me space wise this works out fine. Maybe someday I will make a frame for it or get Keigs to make me one. I am sure it got wet in a basement and warped the backing like my outrigger. The figures have a oh so slight bend in them. Anyway it made my day. Mahalo, Scott

I just bought this Witco (I assume) bench on ebay. It's even better in person - very stunning.

For the sake of discussion, a question -- would you leave it as is with original dingy vinyl seat (cracked) and very minor color loss on wood (the "keep it original" approach), or reupholster in leopard print and touch up the wood with a dark stain (the "it's furniture and I have to live with it" approach)?

In other words, is it at all possible that the "rules" of antique furniture conservation could even appy to Witco? Should I care? I come from 15 years of collecting vintage Stickley furniture, so I generally know what to touch and what not to touch with old stuff. But I'm on the fence with this one. Dave

are you going to keep it? if yes ,then recover.

Once I realized that the bench is an actual tiki figure, albeit a stubby squashed down one, I'm inclined to make it a permanent part of the collection. So I agree, I'm leaning toward having it redone.

I just hesitate since once something isnt original, it's never original. I know collectors who keep the rattiest thrashed old leather on chairs only because it's ORIGINAL ratty thrashed leather.

I would recover the cushion if it was mine. Then give the wood a good cleaning with murphys oil soap. then just use a rag with some dark stain to touch up the bad areas. then hit it with some furniture polish. I havn't seen a piece of Witco that doesn't have a few marks on it. Most pieces are so big and bulky they got run into with the vacume cleaner often. I restored my outrigger picture and I bet most people would never be able to tell. I also recovered my bar as well. Although I doubt we will see the Twins looking at Witco on the antique road show, so make it nice and what makes you happy. I am waiting to see if the Road Show comes around here and I am going to submit photos of my Witco and see if they might feature it. doubtful but you never know.

Found this today in the 3rd room in the very back of a consignment shop, I damn near fell over when I saw it had been marked from $175 down to $30, and the guy said it had been there forever. Measures 60" by 30", found it a new home in the family room that we are going to go retro tiki something with and this is the first piece.
I think we found a new haunt.

Impressive find there Kabuddhabuddha. I see it is pictured on page 99 of Tiki Modern. Florida must be loaded with witco hidden like buried treasure all over the place. A weekend road trip would be way to cover some ground and do some digg'n. Love the tiki hotline phone on your last post. Have fun.

question on the witco sword.does anyone know if they all go the same direction? or did they mix'm up a bit?all of mine go the same way ,and i would like to hang a couple crossed on a wall. thanks DJ

Picked this up today.

Anyone know what the shade is supposed to look like?

Picking up another lamp this week, a little more "tiki" with the lampshade that has three wooden tikis on the outside of the shade. Will post pics when I get it.

Thanks,

PTD

My first real vintage tiki score. Rare in this area. A mug here and there and a small wood tiki once in a while.

Comfortable that the seller had no idea what they were I told them they were Witco and barstools. He politely acted interested. Then said I could have the pair for $30 instead of $20 each. I casually handed him $30.

They have a little damage. Part of an eye chipped off and a chunk off the back of the other. I'm consulting a couple experts on what steps if any to take with these. Would like to do cushions. The stapled remants tell me the cushions were vinyl. The seller got them from someone's porch in the inner city for free.

And after a little wash...

Scored a wicker peacock chair at another tent and a vintage rocket ship ice crusher... both good prices.

I think I'm due for a dry streak. :wink:

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-10-08 09:01 ]

Great score. you learned a valuble lesson telling a dealer what he had.ccost you 10 bucks ,could have cost you more. NEVER tell them .it's not our job to educate them in their own bussiness. TD

Tiki David- actually it sounds like he saved $10 as he got both for $30 instead of $40 ($20 each was the original asking price.)

Get alittle dark stain and touch up the areas where the wood is chipped off. Even that area of the eye will be hidden. Hard to find any Witco that doesn't have some chips or cracks. Most of these have leopard or black vinyl cushions. Good Score, There has to be a bar out there also.

Thanks guys. :)

My wording is a little off, he did take $10 off of the pair as he became more disinterested in them and just wanted to get rid of them. Usually I'd keep my mouth shut, but I was 2 seconds away from buying them for $20 each and thought I'd see if he knew what they were. I figured he didn't and it worked out in my favor. I got lucky. :wink:

This guy wasn't an antiques dealer or anyone in the know. 90% of what was at his booth was junk you would find at a rummage sale. Like they had just cleaned the house out.

Ken gave me some tips so I'm going to polish 'em up a bit and make some leopard print cushions for them. They'll enjoy their new home.

opps . sorry . miss read. i have had it work the other way ,so now i just act like i do not know anything about the stuff.

I bought this lamp on Sunday:

Does anyone have any information on it; the name or design or pictures of it with the lampshade? It is about three feet tall.

Any information would be helpful. I looked closely at the Witco pictures in Tiki Modern but did not see this lamp in any of the chapters.

Thanks,

PTD

i have them same piece.(not made into a lamp) and the QUEEN. both about 3' tall and carved all the way around.they are witco, but thats all i know.

On 2007-10-09 11:42, TIKI DAVID wrote:
i have them same piece.(not made into a lamp) and the QUEEN. both about 3' tall and carved all the way around.they are witco, but thats all i know.

Thanks...would you be able to post some pics??

PTD

Picked these three fish up a few weeks ago.

Picked this up today.

Nice!!! Looks like the front piece off my African Tiki Bar.

On 2007-10-14 15:45, tikicar wrote:
Nice!!! Looks like the front piece off my African Tiki Bar.

It is indeed. It still has the screws in it that connected it to the bar. It has been rigged up as a wall hanging.

Looks kinda like the Trader Vic's logo on a few of the matchbooks

On 2007-10-14 19:22, uncle trav wrote:
Looks kinda like the Trader Vic's logo on a few of the matchbooks

Yep. It's a PNG Abelam mask.

Kate, that is a fine example of that Witco piece, I have seen some that looked much more slapped together.

I picked up the Witco "Tiki" lamp today. However, much to my surprise the lamp looked suspiciously allot like the one I purchased a couple of weeks ago...

The one on the right is the new one, the one on the left is the one from two weeks ago.

I guess I was paying more attention to the lampshade to notice the lamp wasn't a true tiki?

Still, I like it and it looks good!

The lady I purchased this from has had it since the late 60's or very early 70's and brought it over from Hawaii. She says this is the original shade that came with this lamp.

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2007-10-20 18:33 ]

I always loved that shade, it came on its own as a hanging swag light too....that one and the fire dancers one. Cool find.

Just found this today at our local Retro shop. It's priced at $600. Looks really nice!

And he also has these chairs:

Only if you find the gun rack, too! :) As much as I love Witco (well, obviously) I must say that it works best for me when they do modernist stuff (because Westenhaver had such a knack for it) OR Tiki stuff, because the primitivism of the chainsaw carving style complements the primitive art is was supposed to represent. When it comes to antique European styles, which, back in the day, were usually carved more intricately by trained craftsman, Witco tends to look...cheap. :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-10-25 05:53 ]

has anyone ever seen this witco toilet???

seco
seco from the martini kings

Quite an impressive bar on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Polynesian-Hawaiian-Huge-Oak-Vintage-63-Tiki-Bar-Set_W0QQitemZ190169039759QQihZ009QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Is it Witco?

that is definitely witco...i have one of those bar stools except it has orange shag instead of that pleather...it also has the witco label still attached...

That witco shitco (toilet) is great!

My recent Witco score:

It had the matching stools when I bought it. The antique store I bought it from accidentally sold it to someone else before I
could pick it up. That person took the stools and refused to return them, saying it was “on hold” for them before I bought it
(it wasn’t). A huge fight ensued between myself, the owner of the store and the other buyer. After considering legal action
(and my blood pressure) I decided just to remove myself from the equation, and told the store owner that I’d walk away from the
whole situation if they would meet my price for the bar without the stools, taking into consideration the hassle they put me through.
My final price for just the bar: $50.

[ Edited by: Kenike 2007-11-28 16:59 ]