eBay: Jug of the Vampire Bat: New Hand-Built mug by VanTiki

Aloha folks!

I am pleased as punch to announce the newest mug unearthed on VanTiki Island: The Jug of the Vampire Bat! This massive mug was put together with 5 different clays entirely by hand and would be happy to appease any and all Vampire Bats in your vicinity with sweet tropical nectar and alcoholic tinctures. More info, heaps of photos, plus details about the mug's history can be found at the Vantiki site (Links after the photos).

Link to the Mug's VanTiki page:
http://www.vantiki.com/VanTiki/Jug_of_the_Bat.html

Link to the Auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120270397368

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Really, really outstanding work Henrik! Gobsmacked, as we say in Ye Olde Country. The gold tooth....very nice touch.

CH

I think I'm going to have nightmares! That is off the hook!

I dunno, I find it too far off the hook. Again a great show of talent, but it looks more fantasy/medieval/computer game monster-style than Tiki. I have to echo my earlier sentiments I voiced on this thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28512&forum=12&4

That's AWESOME!! The gold tooth is a great detail! I get the special honor of being able to say I'm the high bid on it right this second, I don't expect that bid to hold long based on what your previous pieces have gone for so I'll enjoy it while I can :wink:

It's definitely not tiki, but it's still amazing. Maybe we need a "Beyond Tiki Marketplace" thread? :wink:

Its not a tiki but would be awesome if you could afford it to bury it in a very full tiki bar that was even more expensive to fill. Could only dream.

Outstanding! Bone chilling! A tropical nightmare! Wish I could afford it!

"But is it Tiki?"
Hmmmmm.... sure looks like some sort of stone god though. Tiki-ish? Idol like? Certainly it's something one might expect to blunder across in a tiki market place. That is if a "tiki" market place has not only actual wooden Hawaiian tikis for sale, but also many other tropical curiosities related to Tiki Culture.

Er....right?

This mug and Vantiki's other mugs are beautiful works of art that challenge the definitions of what "art" is. They also challenge the definition of "tiki", which appears to be a moving target anyway. This mug is most definitely not an artifact that looks like it may have been plucked from a jungle somewhere, yet it has a very distinctive jungle feel to it that makes you wonder if you don't hear a drumbeat in the background somewhere. "Tiki" is all about transporting one mentally from the hustle & bustle of daily life to some far off exotic place. In that respect I'd say this is at least a little bit tiki :)

And while I'm on my soapbox about things "tiki", why in the world do people all of a sudden think that anything made by Witco is "tiki"? I mean, I'm well aware of bigbrotiki's books (asked for one for my b-day in fact) but it's gotten to where people think a cat magazine holder is tiki just because it's made by Witco! If there's room on Tiki Central for cat magazine holders, then surely there's room for Vantiki's creations :D

Hey yeah,
I've been dyin' to do a painting of a Tiki Cat, but just can't figure out how to make it tiki enough yet.

Might have to be a mongoose. The big island is over run with them.

I love the Vampire Vat jug, and I would weep if I could not find such cool things to gawk at on Tiki Marketplace.

Tiki Shark

http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2008-06-09 13:09 ]

"art" in it's own sense is to be about the process. the end result is simply the physical representation of that process itself. if you have oceanic and tiki references, who's to say where those references will happen and how much of them will actually show?
either way, it's a gorgeous piece and i'd be amped to have it!

"Art" is a very general, subjective term. That's why there are art genres, and Tiki art is one of them. And that's why there are art "critics", who define these art genres, and I did that with "Tiki art". When the aspects meeting those definitions do not "happen" and not "much of them actually show", why would one call these art pieces by the name of that genre?

I am sorry, I certainly do not want to harp on Van Tiki's work, I totally agree that it is spectacular, and everybody should feel free to love it and buy it and so on. At the same time, I will not stop to remind folks about WHAT makes Tiki TIKI. This should be its own thread, and I am opening it here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28671&forum=1&start=last&0

yo that!

Jeepers Creepers!

I had no idea this mug would set off so much discussion. Mahalo to everyone ("tiki" camp and "not-tiki" camp alike) for checking out the mug and talking tiki, mugs, and the meaning of life - and Mahalo to BigBroTiki for starting the new thread.

I wanted to give everyone the official "2 days left" eBay alert.

Henrik "VanTiki"

Vantiki mugs came forth from a place that was so tiki and the craftsmanship on them is so superior than any other tiki mug out there that I wouldn't have noticed it wasn't a "tiki" (well) or cared.

Think about it, This one holds all that great feeling the tiki holds. The excitement and relic look of it.

It is a combination of so many things that we consider "tiki"

A spin off of the brick moai.

PArt skull mug which alone a consider a tiki mug

Its totally a cannibal mug, a staple

The bead eye too

Vantiki mugs came forth from a place that was so tiki and the craftsmanship on them is so superior than any other tiki mug out there that I wouldn't have noticed it wasn't a "tiki" (well) or cared.

Think about it, This one holds all that great feeling the tiki holds. The excitement and relic look of it.

It is a combination of so many things that we consider "tiki"

A spin off of the brick moai.

PArt skull mug which alone a consider a tiki mug

Its totally a cannibal mug, a staple

The bead eye too

couldn't agree more! duke carter refers to the term "tiki" as an umbrella term for more of a feeling of being in a far off land or exotic place.....this mug sure seems to do all that.
it also looks totally bad-ass, so i can't be hatin!
but hey, i'm canadian...what do i know?!

Wow, looks like a record