Anyone know whats the story with this one?

This is a ceramic figurine.

I believe it's the Very Rare Homer Simpson Tiki Mug.

Keep looking for the Stewie or Brian Too...........

J.J. I really don't know!!!!!!!

Good luck finding out!!!!!!

i have one of these that is a bank by westwood- a solid chalkware one without the headress, and a hobbyist ceramic one without the headress.

On 2009-01-12 01:07, Wildsville man wrote:
I believe it's the Very Rare Homer Simpson Tiki Mug.

Keep looking for the Stewie or Brian Too...........

J.J. I really don't know!!!!!!!

Good luck finding out!!!!!!

I know! That's what I thought when i first saw it! Homer Simpson! :D

I really liked it, so I did a bad bad thing, and won it on evil bay.

Later on, I was flipping through Tiki Magazine summer 2006 vol2. No. 2,(got hubby past issues for Xmas, ones we didn't have, we are fairly new to collecting) and saw same figurine on page 28, Shags interview; if you will look at picture of his shelves, you will see it on last shelf, next to stack of books. I don't know how I was able to notice it to be honest with you, LOL!
I'm supposed to receive it from seller any day now, but seems like it "must have gotten lost in the mail", so this is why I'm particularly interested where it came from.

I have a bank like that but it's painted a bit differently. Looks more like Bart Simpson to me, so I call it Bartiki. I think it is marked Westwood.

That was my very first tiki ever. I bought it when I was about ten years old in the late 60s. The store I bought it from was a Fedmart in Redlands, California. I'm lucky to still have a lot of stuff from my childhood because my mother was kind enough to store it instead of throwing it away. :D

I'd post a picture, but most of my tiki stuff is languishing in storage since our last move.

Spiked, please show a pic from the side when you get it, I'd like to see the headdress. I own a generic no-name mug from this mold:

I always likened it to a monkey, or a Pekinese, because of its "cute" design, and always felt it to be borderline Tiki, more pre-Columbian, probably because A.) I picked it up at a flea market in Tijuana, B.) its rounded off facial and body features, which made it more akin to Aztec sculpture like this:

Furthermore, the seated, arms-wrapped-around-the-legs posture is exceedingly rare in ancient South Sea sculpture (just now I could not find an example in my vast Oceanic Art library).

Yet, that fact did not keep the concept from being used in mid-century Tiki culture (even if seldom), as evidenced in this support post photographed in situ at the Shelter Isle apartments:

...and, most importantly, seen in the direct cousin to the generic ceramics above, the very rare Johnny Quong mug:

..which, because of the unique Tiki empire founded by Johnny, and the fact that it served virgin cocktails, is a highly desirable cult object.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-01-12 16:49 ]

It seems certain that the bank I bought in the late 60s from a Fedmart was intended to be a tiki. It was in a big display with other tiki and Hawaiian stuff including Coco Joe's-type lava sculptures and coconut monkeys.

To me the crest looks more Polynesian than Aztec/Incan/Mayan.

That said, I do think I remember that it was marked Westwood, and we know what a mishmash of styles they used for their tiki mugs.

I concur with your statement about the mug's purpose --especially since there was never a big market for Aztec cocktail mugs! I was just sharing my thoughts and insights about its design sources.

Yours is a piggy bank, Then there was a tiki mold, And a tiki mug, I had the vintage mold, I collect them as a hobby, I made 50 of these in 2002 and then broke the mold, Time to give it a rest! The mold was at it's end!

On 2009-01-12 13:16, bigbrotiki wrote:
Spiked, please show a pic from the side when you get it, I'd like to see the headdress.

Yeah.... Unfortunately, I didn't receive it and seller refunded me the money.... :( Sorry Sven.....

I secretly think he/she just decided to keep it for themselves.. :wink:

Thank you everyone for all your help and input! :)