A Collection of Cannibals

He must..... here they are .

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230405169319&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Oops! Wrong thread. Sorry :D

On 2009-09-17 16:18, 1961surf wrote:

On 2009-09-17 11:49, boutiki wrote:

[ Edited by: boutiki 2009-09-17 11:50 ]

Definite lathe marks on the bottoms of Dukes cannibals -Sven .
Does this mean that they were not hand carved, and turned on lathe ?

Those Are lathe marks and could have been just to turn the square boards into rounds but you are most likely correct because the "duplicators" use the same system to hold and turn the piece as it is being carved along with the other dozen or so.

[ Edited by: Benzart 2009-12-30 05:37 ]

This thread coming up again, and being one of my favorite subjects, I want to share another theory about the history and evolution/devolution of the Cannibal Carvings:

We have seen (and discussed) many variations of the trio on menus and matchbooks, but for me, one of the most graphically intriguing pieces has always been this Kon Tiki Montreal menu cover:

Quite an elaborate concept! Was this just the artist's fanciful imagination? For that, it seems rather concise, with details like the cauldron bearers drawn into it:

The motif also appeared on matchbooks...

...and even on souvenir spoons:

(I want that spoon!)

Well, when perusing details of the Kon Tiki blueprints, in the "Luau Garden" we first notice one of the multiple waterfalls of the Kon Tiki emptying into a pool....but then another feature catches our attention!:

In the upper left corner, right by the pool, on a 6 inch high platform, stood what was called a "Sacrificial Altar"! The overhead view of a large round item surrounded by three smaller half-round pieces bears an uncanny resemblance to the grouping on the menu cover, and the name certainly befits the concept.

I unfortunately missed the opportunity to inquire about this detail when both of the Kon Tiki's designers were still alive, but what really condemns this find into the realm of theory is the fact that so far, no photographic evidence has surfaced which would prove the physical existence of this ensemble. This, my friends, would indeed be a stellar find!

We-hell, any opinions on this theory? If it existed, why was there no mention or photograph of it? And what was in the cauldron? :)

Hey Big Bro, I certainly don't know if this "Sacrificial Alter" was really built on the Kon Tiki grounds or not, but I love the thought that it might have been. I'm very intrigued with the images you have presented to us all in the above posts - thanks...an adaption of these images should really should be made into a bowl. (without rabbits that is) :) Hummm....

I know! There it is, complete with a lid! I have so many great bowl and mug concepts, but somehow they are not being produced...

GROG have alot of mug ideas GROG not produce yet. Now that GROG unemployed and have kiln, GROG may be able to get some of these out in 2010.

GROG draw this quick sketch with a mouse on the computer over a year or two ago. It just the idea, not the final design, so forgive the crappy drawing. It part of a series GROG going to do called "MUGSHOTS" (© Ernest Keen) that are a combination of a mug and a shot glass.This is a "skull eater", but GROG may do a more tradional styled "cannibal tiki mugshot" too.

GROG

[ Edited by: GROG 2009-12-31 11:27 ]

Great idea, Grog.

Nice design, indeed. Will the jaw be hinged, and the head tilts back to reveal the skull ? :D

...and now back to the Cannibal SACRIFICIAL ALTAR mystery:

Bigbro,

The sacraficial altar is a great find, hope to see a photo.

Went to the Harbor Hut in Morro Bay over the holidays, here is the cannibal Tiki out front.

And, what a cool child's menu, the cannibal eating a ... child!

DC

Nice images and photo DC.Something about tikis eating babies on a kids menu
is knuckle biter .

Doesn't the Jardin Tiki in Montreal also have a very large set of carved cannibals? I wonder if they came from the Kon Tiki?

(photo by tikifish)

Great Minds Drink Alike

(edit just realized this has already been posted, but it's still cool to look at :wink: )

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine 2010-01-04 20:51 ]

Bigbro wrote- "We-hell, any opinions on this theory? If it existed, why was there no mention or photograph of it? And what was in the cauldron?

You have blueprints that show the altar. I would say, even with no photos, that this along with the resemblance to the matchbook art work etc. is proof enough that the alter/cauldron existed. If this was a promotional artist rendering I would say no not enough proof.

There usually is several blue prints of the same area for different reasons. One is made for the HVAC Electrical only and one just for the plumber. If you have these prints then they would show if the cauldron was wired for lights, gas jets beneath lava rocks for fire or plumbed for a water feature.

Anyone have a idea on what a single tiki might go for??? I have a local shop that has a single eater for sale. I need to go back and see if it has turn marks or not but it looks like it could be old. aprox. 14-16" high. any thoughts?

There's a large version at an antique store in Kailua (Oahu)...

at least 2ft tall and Heavy....I think it was priced somewhere between $600-$800... I wanted to lift it up a bit to check for lathe chuck marks but it was wedged in the corner :lol: Aloha, Freddie

Definitely old! That style of Cannibal reminds me strongly of the one in this 1940s rendering of the Trader Vic's store at Vic's in Oakland, the same elongated body:

That's a hefty, Tiki-in-Hawaiii price...but then again, you might never see another one like it.

Is this the place?

When we visited a few years ago, they had a terrific old 6' tall Ku (didn't even ask the price) and a maybe 1 1/2 ft Kava Kava man that I badly wanted to take home, but he had a very hefty price tag. The cannibal wasn't there then, but it's a beauty.

On 2010-01-11 15:32, GatorRob wrote:
Is this the place?

This is the sister store (wife's side), on the right of this shop, across the lane is the husbands side and the one with all the Tikis and Hawaiiana...a few nice gems but uniformly steep $$.... Freddie

[ Edited by: HOUSE OF KU 2010-01-25 01:53 ]

From a vintage French postcard: "Tiki Marquisien"

He looks more like a pedophile than a cannibal.

Wow, it's really unclear whose penis that is there....

That's what she said.

These are all old.
What happened to the fine young Cannibals?
Drives me crazy trying to find them.

This one's for Kate.

This is a great find, Sabu! I have pondered over this image for many years, not because of its unusually realistic endowed-ness, but because it is a Cannibal carving in situ in a Tahitian marae!...at least that is what the caption to THIS photo...

... in Miroslav Stingl's 1985 book "Kunst der Suedsee" says. It was photographed (obviously a bit later than the postcard) at the Arahu Rahu marae in Tahiti, which was reconstructed in the mid-50s:

Since then, Tahitian processions and festivals have taken place at this marae every year:

But nowadays it is said to be a mostly tourist oriented performance place. The Tikis from the first renovation have since been replaced by spanking new ones:

..which in their design are actually closer to ancient Tahitian (and not Marquesan) carvings.

Nevertheless, if this marae's original reconstruction in the mid-century was done under the auspices of archeologists, would they have allowed tourist carvings on such an authentic site? The date of 1923 on Kate's Cannibal trio places the Cannibal design concept very close to a generation of Tiki carvers that still might have had carving tradition knowledge handed down to them from pre-contact generations.

Could it be possible that this carving ONLY survived in its tourist form, in the minds of old carvers, from before contact, because all its ancient examples had been destroyed? One can imagine that a "perverse" carving such as this would have been on top of the list of any missionaries determined to eradicate pagan imagery!

The one at Arahu Rahu is certainly a modern version :

..actually quite close to the one that Spence Weaver owned:

..but the Don the Beachcomber trio looks more blocky and primitive. Now anthropologists might argue that the linear thinking of the A-B-C sequence of Catcher-Eater-Full Belly is much more a Western way of thinking, but what about the Palau story boards? Why wouldn't Polynesians have done narrative sequences in carvings, then, to? And yes, ancestor carvings were mostly symbolic and sacred, but the Polynesians also did have an irreverent sense of humor. And last, perhaps just the Eater Cannibal existed as an ancient godhead, and the rest of the set was completed in tourist times by an inspired carver?

At this point, I doubt that the carver of that Tahitian marae cannibal is still alive, and unless a pre-contact Cannibal carving is discovered in some burial cave, my "missing link" theory will remain just that. But I like theories. :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-01-15 22:03 ]

GatorRob... is this the guy??

When he first appeared, Kava Kava man was priced at $800... kinda special though...out of Paul Fujimoto's personal collection...:)

Found this a few months ago at the local swapmeet...

Looks like it could be a cannibal chopstick rest, aprox 2"l

[ Edited by: HOUSE OF KU 2010-01-25 01:56 ]

Mommie, why do they all wear red napkins around their hips ??? :)

On 2010-01-21 02:31, HOUSE OF KU wrote:
GatorRob... is this the guy??

Yes, I believe that's the one. And at $800, it's not surprising he's still there. Okay, back to cannibals...

But why!? I could look at that same shop front again and again! :D

Forgot one, not posted on this thread so far: The Cannibal SWIZZLE STICK !

It is UNMARKED, and identical on both sides. The Cannibal's style is also unspecific, not copied from any particular known carving or rendering. Though the stick is vintage, it feels like of more recent vintage, the plastic is a bit more rubbery.

When did they start making the round ball stick ends, any swizzle collector club members here?

On 2010-01-15 22:01, bigbrotiki wrote:

... in Miroslav Stingl's 1985 book "Kunst der Suedsee" says. It was photographed (obviously a bit later than the postcard) at the Arahu Rahu marae in Tahiti, which was reconstructed in the mid-50s:

Bigbro - thanks for the background on my postcard. The postcard itself says "MARAE ARAHURAHU" on the back, so you were right on.

I really think the cannibal tiki was inspired by this canoe figurehead. Bigbro showed this piece before on this thread but didn't mention the similarities...

Can you see?

Umm....so why would I show it in this thread if not for its similarity? :)

The main difference to the other cult objects where the motif was similar is that nowhere else did the mouth-wrapping-around-the-head occur. That symbolism specifically speaks of cannibalism, while the mere holding of heads or humans symbolizes head hunting, (or birth, or myths about ancestors).

Cannibalism was not practiced universally in the South Seas (though it did occur in the Solomons), for example it did NOT exist in Tahiti, where the carvings hail from. Tahiti also did NOT have a pronounced carving style, but as with tourism demand for Tiki carvings rose, carvers that had moved there from the neighboring Marquesas Islands filled that need. Not only is the style of the Cannibal carvings basically Marquesan, but the tradition is, as the Marquesans DID practice cannibalism.

On 2010-01-15 22:01, bigbrotiki wrote:

Here's another shot of that tiki from a Travels of Captain Cook book published in 1971

Buzzy Out

Here's SHAG's version of the Mai-Kai Cannibals form this years Hukilau Aloha shirt and dress.

Very Nice!! :D

I got me one of those! (No, not the dress..)

Boris, I was expecting you to post Humuhumu's great Balhi Ha'i glass she had made for her home bar next :) :

inspired by the Beachcomber menu, this fine piece of glassware certainly belongs here too.

On 2010-06-21 13:31, bigbrotiki wrote:

Boris, I was expecting you to post Humuhumu's great Balhi Ha'i glass she had made for her home bar next :) :

I was hoping someone who had a decent camera with an eye for lighting and detail would post a picture of one and voila there it is.

Great picture Bigbro! :)

Thanks everyone, this thread rocks. But...

I WANT MORE!!!

What do you people think about it? Tiki? Cannibal? both?

It's been awhile since I've found anything worthwhile "digging in the field" but I've recently unearthed some fine specimens from what I believe to be from the Hanalei Hotel. I travelled north to salvage 9 cannibal Tikis from the harsh elements. They need some serious TLC but I think the long drive was well worth it...

Here are three of them as I found them tied to various trees in a back yard in New Hampshire....

Here they are in my garage drying off after the long voyage home...

and here are some of the fellows as they migrate into my collection....

Happy hunting fellow urban archaeologists! :)

Congratulations - Great find! I think one of those guys needs to find his way back to San Diego... :wink:

This thread was a great source of inspiration when I was completing the design for my "Kai Kanak aka The Happy Cannibal".

Saw these in Gecko'z studio a couple of weeks ago...

Aloha, Freddie

They are gorgeous. I would love those, although pretty costly I would expect.

Those look very similar to the set I got: (The second set made.)

and I know there is at least one more set out there: (The very first set made.)

[ Edited by: MikeyTiki 2011-12-02 22:13 ]

On 2010-06-20 21:54, Bora Boris wrote:
Here's SHAG's version of the Mai-Kai Cannibals form this years Hukilau Aloha shirt and dress.

Very Nice!! :D

Wow, Shag took the wrong eye thing to a whole new level! Instead of seeing them as "asian" eyes, he saw them as eyebrows and added eyes underneatht them!

Here is Tiki 65's set he carved.

On 2011-11-29 18:27, Tikinomad wrote:
It's been awhile since I've found anything worthwhile "digging in the field" but I've recently unearthed some fine specimens from what I believe to be from the Hanalei Hotel. and here are some of the fellows as they migrate into my collection....

Happy hunting fellow urban archaeologists! :)

Tikinomad,

What a great find. You know, many of the Tikis at the Hanalei Hotel came from Steve Crane's original Luau restaurant in Beverly Hills. Here is a photo from the Luau posted by Sabu.

Sure looks like your cannibals on the right! This counts as a "double" find.

DC

Thanks DC! I was very excited about this find...thank you for reposting that great photo from Sabu of Steve Cranes Luau too! :)