Tiki Finds

Dan found this plaque at the Portland Antique Expo for $5. We think it is tiki. Have any of you seen it before or have information on it?

It had lots of chips and dings.

I restored it.

Hi Wendy,
My guess is that this guy is a depiction of Te Rongo and his three sons. There is some confusion as to who this guy really is though. Either Rongo, the Maori god of agriculture, some other Cook Islands god or Te Rongo with his kids.
Sir Peter Buck, not of REM. :) is the guy who creates the confusion. He (Peter Buck/Te Rangi Hiroa) died in 1951.
The face on you guy is kinda Disneyesque. I have a carving of Te Rongo and his three sons and it has a Cook Islands face.
Erik The Red.

Found this old thing just hangin' around an antique mall on a recent trip up North...

With a $50 price tag, it wasn't like walkin' out with it for free, but after
we got it home and I looked at Ooga Mooga I definitely felt like we got away with
something!

Not a scratch on it- too cool!

--Pete

Nice one Ragbag! I've turned my offspring into hunters and gatherers for me and one found a Tiki Liki at a Goodwill shop. I couldn't be more proud!

Mr. NoNaMe thank you so much. I'm going to print your post to keep with him.

RagBag Comics you sure did. The only one we have has a hairline crack and we feel lucky to have it.

Cheers, Wendy

Thanks, Bongo!

I really like those Trader Vic Hawaii mugs; we found a little family of 'em awhile back for about $5 each-
I love how they're all a little bit different from each other... there's a really great crude kind of charm to 'em.

You've got your kiddos trained well!

Wendy: It's a super cool bowl, hairline crack or no! We only have one other Steve Crane mug- the clown-y lookin' Ku; his whole inner reservoir is broken away from the rest of the mug, so he was definitely part of some kind of traumatic drinking accident in the past, but we love it anyway; the little defects are all part of their history.

--Pete

[ Edited by: Ragbag Comics 2013-07-24 19:21 ]

[ Edited by: Ragbag Comics 2013-07-24 19:21 ]

A carving from Fiji. It's very heavy for it's size and it has 1972 written on the back of it.

-Lori

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-07-25 15:43 ]

Nice carving, Lori! I bought this maori carving from an elderly couple intersecting them as they were about to take it into an antique shop yesterday. It's 31 inches of heavy, solid wood.

Hi guys

Not sure if this counts as a 'find' or a 'make' - I found a big bit of bamboo & an old shade, got some more bits & made a lamp :)

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-07-26 08:56 ]

Apologies for the re-post:

On 2013-07-21 14:23, AdOrAdam wrote:
I found:

I have no idea if its 'tiki' or just 'ethnic' but thought it was interesting. It is about 35" tall (but the bottom 2" appears to be a base that was added later). It was pretty scratched up, I've done some sanding & re-staining (& might do some more).

Any idea where it is from?

No reply yet, any ideas?

Nothing impressive, or collectible, but nifty nonetheless:
My husband and I decided to do a bit of "sidewalk shopping" the other day and spotted several good finds! The Peacock chair and bamboo end table were 2 top scores; we also picked some nice fake palm trees-- all in great condition. :D
Hey neighbors: thanks for tossing some cool stuff!

Stuff I got last weekend at the International market Place at Don's:

And from this week's regular rounds:

14" x 18" Palau storyboard carving signed and dated from 1951

Mini Kava Kava guy:

Tiki lava lamp:

Romantic resin Guam frame:

Buzzy Out!

On 2013-07-26 08:59, AdOrAdam wrote:
Apologies for the re-post:

On 2013-07-21 14:23, AdOrAdam wrote:
I found:

I have no idea if its 'tiki' or just 'ethnic' but thought it was interesting. It is about 35" tall (but the bottom 2" appears to be a base that was added later). It was pretty scratched up, I've done some sanding & re-staining (& might do some more).

Any idea where it is from?

No reply yet, any ideas?

Definitely not Tiki, I am guessing because I have not seen anything like that before that it may be
a Fertility Idol of African influence.

Found these today while out junkin'.

The big Moai mug appears to be vintage from Trader Dick's in Sparks, NV. Any idea on the age? I know Dick's is still open, but has been around since '58 in various forms.

Me again with a small contribution from a friend. It's a porcelain Kahlua bottle made by M.H. Strikow, LA (empty)

Bongo I always love your one find posts :)

On 2013-07-30 12:50, SandraDee wrote:
Bongo I always love your one find posts :)

Miss Dee, that's how I get them! :wink:

Found a pair of Luau salt and pepper shakers and a 10" marquesan tiki in a Palm Springs, Ca. antique store. My braddah Tiklivato thinks it might be part of a "cannibal" set. I'm inclined to agree.
Cheers

Attack of the S&P shakers for me.

1. Cocoa Joes Large Lava Hula Girl
2. Trader Vics S&P
3. Kon-Tiki S&P
4. Mauna Loa Detroit, only the salt- if anyone has only a pepper and want to get these two together, PM me, maybe I can trade you or you can trade me.
5. Cocoa Joes small tiki with label intact on back
6. Treasure Craft Pineapple dish
7. A really cool Plastichrome slide, depicting the exterior of the Mai Kai. My wife bought a storage case full of these slides. Most of the them are from New Orleans, Virginia, and a few from Ft. Lauderdale. They are early 1960's judging from the cars, clothing in the pictures. This was the only tiki related slide we found. I am going to see if I can get it transferred to a picture. Pretty neat.

[ Edited by: dewey-surf 2013-08-04 11:55 ]

Small kava bowl found at the swap meet.

And a Strikow Kahlúa bottle from an estate sale.

:drink: ,
ETR

It's almost impossible to find anything even remotely Tiki related where I live, but here are a few treasures I've managed to dig up locally:

Norwegian made mid century ashtray from Stavangerflint.

Painted "Hattie Leaf" from Pitcairn. This came without a frame - the guy in the shop didn't even want any money for it, so I got it for free.

Souvenir wooden sword things from Fiji, 1973.

Old Kon-Tiki raft model (and a couple mugs from ebay).

Picked up this rare early Trader Vic's Fogcutter mug yesterday in the remote wilds of Mi. Couldn't pass it up for the four dollar price tag.

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

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2013-08-04 16:49 ]

Painted "Hattie Leaf" from Pitcairn. This came without a frame - the guy in the shop didn't even want any money for it, so I got it for free.

I would think there's a high probability that Dobrey Christian of Pitcairn Island was descended from Fletcher Christian,
famous for his part in the mutiny on the Bounty.
Of possible interest, is that the descendants were eventually relocated and live now on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory.
It may also interest some that William Bligh later became Governor of the fledgling Australian colony for a time and the vague Tiki
connection is that he became entangled in what was known as the "Rum Rebellion".
Anna Bligh, a descendent of William, was recently Premier of the state of Queensland.
The story of the Bounty has many ties to Australia and your painting is fascinating, nice find.

On 2013-08-04 14:46, Cheese Pirate wrote:

I love this ashtray the the Kon Tiki focus of your collection.

A friend gave me three of these paper coasters. She got them from her spouse who is helping the owners of the Hub Hotel with an estate/junk sale. The hotel still exists on Jasper Avenue (I think it has a different name now). Could this be a hitherto undocumented Tiki palace? Exciting to contemplate, but I doubted it since the Hub has always been a little divey. I got my friend to email the owner (who lives in Calgary) for more details, and this is what the owner told her:

"The Hub Hotel did not have a Tiki room - the ladies and escorts section had photos on glass with lights behind them of grandparent trips to Hawaii."

Oh well.

(For those not old enough to remember the bad old days - up until the late 60s in Alberta, women weren't allowed in beer parlors in cities, but many establishments had separate lounges where men & women ("ladies and escorts") were allowed to drink together.)

I would think there's a high probability that Dobrey Christian of Pitcairn Island was descended from Fletcher Christian,
famous for his part in the mutiny on the Bounty.
Of possible interest, is that the descendants were eventually relocated and live now on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory.
It may also interest some that William Bligh later became Governor of the fledgling Australian colony for a time and the vague Tiki
connection is that he became entangled in what was known as the "Rum Rebellion".
Anna Bligh, a descendent of William, was recently Premier of the state of Queensland.
The story of the Bounty has many ties to Australia and your painting is fascinating, nice find.

About the relocation to Norfolk Island, that is partly correct, though within 5 years of the relocation 44 people had moved back to Pitcairn and roughly 50 people still live there today. Dobrey Christian served on the Pitcairn island council in 1979 and 1980.

Dobrey Christian

Dobrey was born Verna Carlean Deborah Young, but Fletcher Christian is her great-great-great-great-grandfather. Fletcher had a son named Thursday October Christian, who had a son named Thursday October Christian II, who had a daughter named Agnes Christian. She married Samuel Russel Warren, a whaler from Rhode Island, and they had a daughter named Catherine Edith Warren. She married David Andrew Stanley Young and they had a son named Andrew Clarence David Young. Andrew Young operated the first wireless set on Pitcairn in 1921 and in 1938 became the first Radio Amateur operating on the island. He was Dobrey's father.

Thursday October Christian II (Dobrey's great-great-grandfather and Fletcher Christian's grandson)

Andrew Young (Dobrey's father)

The painted "Hattie leaves" from Pitcairn are named after Hattie Andre who among other things taught the Pitcairn islanders dry leaf painting.

[ Edited by: Cheese Pirate 2013-08-05 02:27 ]

Lucky you didn't mention all that to the bloke at the shop,
he might've charged you an arm and a leg for it.

Hunting has been good here lately.

I've had Mia pose in the first photo to show scale.

The bloke I bought it off had absolutely no information about it, other than buying
it at an antiques auction. He and his wife are moving to Spain and sold it to me for
a ridiculously cheap price. If you happen to read this Jet, thanks a million.

The PNG drum was advertised alone with a smaller one, but when I got to the womans' house
there was a small pile of other PNG stuff with it and she practically gave me the whole lot for
about the price of a cheap bottle of rum.

No information on the Maori paddle either, as the bloke was at work and his wife knew less about it than I did.

These nine glass floats came to me from a woman who'd lived in PNG while her husband was
stationed there with the Royal Australian Navy. She had personally collected these floats
off various beaches there during the 1970s. An adorable old bird, a little rough around the
edges and completely down to earth, exactly how you'd expect an old school navy wife to be.

This club was given to me by an uncle who'd found it on the rubbish tip of a coastal town north of Perth.
It had a crude half lap joint about 18 inches from the end of the haft. Not sure whether this was to render
the weapon useless, to shorten it or to repair a damaged section but either way I took it apart, cleaned up
the joint and glued it back together with epoxy. It was originally painted black and although it looked good
in it's natural timber, I've again painted it to completely hide the joint.

[ Edited by: komohana 2013-08-05 21:24 ]

Congrats Komohana on some really crazy good luck that has come your way !!!!!

[ Edited by: hottiki 2013-08-05 22:33 ]

Komohana, those are some lovely finds, congratulations!

Here are a couple of things that were included with the PNG drum.

Ceremonial spear, approx. 5'3" / 1.6m long.

And a small slit drum, really has a sweet note.

There was also a bow with a handful of arrows and seven masks, some of which
I've already installed in my home bar build.

[ Edited by: komohana 2013-08-07 00:29 ]

Wow Komohana! Very nice indeed,Congrats

My best find in Palm Springs today was a framed postcard of Gene's Hawaiian Village. DC has provided info on Gene's on another thread. Also picked up a nice framed poster of Western Airlines /Palm Springs, a small box of "Flying Dutchman Rum measurers,sic" and finally a nice book on African Sculpture. This book has a lot of great pix that will help me differentiate between tiki and other primitive art when trying to decide to buy or not buy when out on the hunt. The last pic is of the sun partially obscured by smoke from the "Silver" fire in nearby Banning taken about a half hour ago.

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2013-08-08 21:43 ]

On 2013-08-04 14:46, Cheese Pirate wrote:

Painted "Hattie Leaf" from Pitcairn. This came without a frame - the guy in the shop didn't even want any money for it, so I got it for free.

Adding to Cheese Pirate's information about Verna Carlene Deborah "Dobrey" Young (descendent of mutineer Ned Young). She married Ivan Roa Christian, and they had two children, Steve and Brenda. Steve Christian (b. 1951) became an influential local politician, based on respect for his lineage. He was involved in the big rape scandal on Pitcairn, that you may have seen on the news. He was mayor of Pitcairn from 1999 until 2004, when he was removed from office following his conviction in the trial of seven defendents.
Dobrey Christian, if she's still living, is 88.

"The rum's the thing..."

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2013-08-08 17:26 ]

I went to a tiki yard sale the other weekend that nearly made me cry. So much good stuff. Picked up these salt and pepper shakers from Kings Island, Moai, Amway Tonga Soap and a carved Marquesan style tiki that on the back said it was carved by Rene Pailloux in Tahiti for the Tahitian Lanai. And got a large framed Art forms of the Pacific by Miguel Covarrubias. I really need a big piece to tie my tiki room together and this is perfect! And of course books to add to the Bibliotiki.

Those are awesome finds! The tiki gods were smiling on you that day. :)

On an unrelated note, should this thread be split off into a new one so Hanford doesn't have to recode it every time there's a new page?

Kahiki ashtray!

[ Edited by: happy buddha 2013-08-09 16:47 ]

We didn't buy these candle holders but if someone is looking for them they are across from the XY freeway antique show in Sacramento in the big mixed bag store on the corner. Either $25 each or for the pair I couldn't tell.

We found a tiki today that wasn't like any in Dan's collection. It says on the tag, "Not a Tourist Tiki". However it is lightweight like coconut wood and in perfect condition.

We can't tell if it is old or new.

The bottom is covered with felt so whether it is signed is a mystery.

Anyone have one of these? Wendy

That Kahiki ashtray is a great score!

A hobby Tiki Bob, double Tonga Room coconut bowl, 2 Tonga Room hurricane glasses, a pair of Westwood S&Ps, Plastic PMP S&Ps and some Freaky Tiki bobble head I found for $1.00

The wife and I hit four antique stores yesterday, all of them quite large (one over 13,000 square feet). Our tiki finds amounted to nothing more than this mug: http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/all/mug.cgi?mode=view&mug_id=1788

I'm so jealous when I see the great stuff everyone here is finding! Keep 'em coming.

T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2013-08-11 11:45 ]

This week's stuff

ETR resin statue:

C'Al switchplate:

Anthro-smut:

Maori food funnel:

Edit:

Maddog asks in a PM:

On 2013-08-11 15:08, MadDogMike wrote:
Buzz, what the hell is a food funnel?

Sorry, I thought everyone was familiar with Maori feeding funnels, so I figured it needed no explanation. Here's some info that I found on facebook about them:

"Formal and Contextual Analysis:
The funnel was created to allow the high ranking Maori Chiefs to be fed pureed food while they were getting the painful tattoo on their face that took a very long time to be completed. This was due to the deep scaring and taboos of the tattooing process. The funnel allowed them to eat while recieving the tattoo but not interupt the the grueling process. The funnel which was functional was also art since the Maori had artistic traditions that were part of creating the intricate designs on the wooden funnel. The meaning of the funnel is that of power since it was used during the process of giving the tattoo to the high ranking chief. This was a piece of artwork that was created for the purpose of being used and not for display."

Buzzy Out!

[ Edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2013-08-11 16:36 ]

Swap meet photo 8"x10" framed...2nd photo underneath dated Aug. 1981...anybody ID this talented group ???

[ Edited by: Bora Boris - Talented picture rotation. - 2013-08-11 22:10 ]

Buzzy, you must have a huge collection with all your finds
do you display it at home? or find it filling up boxes like I did?

This bad boy just landed in the mail today...

It is most definitely identical to the Maori War Clubs Oceanic Arts still sells in their catalog (measurements and all the carving are the same) and the wear and patina to it tell me it is DEFINITELY old.

TikiVato found three of them a few months back, out West in California, that were posted here in Tiki Finds if you flip back a few pages.

Finding something like this here in the Midwest, on the other hand, is a real challenge, and it's a good bet any OA stuff that does surface was bought to use in a bar or restaurant (and with larger, less ship-able stuff like this, it was likely one of the tonier chains, since Witco, Orchids of Hawaii, Johnson Products, etc all had facilities in Chicago and were MUCH more affordable to decorate with if you were in the central states.)

The holes drilled through it tell me it was most likely bolted to a wall in a Tiki Palace once upon a time... so it gets me to thinking...(and poking around the internet...)

I received it from a suburb of Cincinnati, and the only Tiki joint I can find having existed for any length of time in that area is the Kon-Tiki at the Sheraton-Gibson Hotel.

So THIS photo is a blow-up of a post card that Dustycajun posted from the Cincy Kon-Tiki in "Locating Tiki" several years back:

...er... this is the only postcard from the place I can find on the internet, and what's that shape hanging on the back wall??

Looks like an OA Maori War Club to me!

The guy I bought it from said he'd had it for awhile, and got if from a friend of his who picked it up years ago at an "estate sale or something" but he really didn't know anything more about it.

Think it could be the same OA War Club from the postcard?

I don't suppose I'll ever know for sure, but it's pretty cool to think about!

--Pete

Very nice find on your vintage OA war club. It is almost identical to the ones they still sell today. The newer ones do not have all the fine details that the ones made in the 60's have.

Finding something like these here in California is just as much a challenge as it was for you. It was a fluke I was able to find the pair together and shortly after, finding one more.

The pair that I found also had holes drilled through it which lead me to believe that it was most likely bolted to a wall as well. Enjoy your treasure.

RagBag Comics we saw a club just like yours in a glass case at the Bali Hai today in San Diego.

Buzzy the funnel was something new for us and wonderful, congratulations. I hope to see you at Oasis.

Wendy

Some really great finds out there! Congrats! I picked up, (with difficulty, 'cause it's really heavy) this carving yesterday. It's 22 inches tall and marked "MANAHOA 1995, TEVITA", so I guess that means it was carved in Hawaii.

Here's a few things I've picked up around here lately, but believe me they have been few and far between.
First of all, this little guy that I picked up for $3.50 but was missing an eye.

So I pulled out the old Dremel and an old abalone button and whipped this up. Boom, done.

And these things:

And my 13 year old daughter picked this up for me for $.99

Man I have to increase the size of my hunting ground!!

Thanks for looking.

On 2013-08-11 14:05, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
This week's stuff

On 2013-08-11 15:08, MadDogMike wrote:
Buzz, what the hell is a food funnel?

Sorry, I thought everyone was familiar with Maori feeding funnels, so I figured it needed no explanation. Here's some info that I found on facebook about them:

"Formal and Contextual Analysis:
The funnel was created to allow the high ranking Maori Chiefs to be fed pureed food while they were getting the painful tattoo on their face that took a very long time to be completed. This was due to the deep scaring and taboos of the tattooing process. The funnel allowed them to eat while recieving the tattoo but not interupt the the grueling process. The funnel which was functional was also art since the Maori had artistic traditions that were part of creating the intricate designs on the wooden funnel. The meaning of the funnel is that of power since it was used during the process of giving the tattoo to the high ranking chief. This was a piece of artwork that was created for the purpose of being used and not for display."

Buzzy Out!

[ Edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2013-08-11 16:36 ]

The chiefs and higher ups weren't allowed to touch their own food. I didn't know about the feeding funnels, but I knew that is why cannibal forks were used. Very cool piece. I have 2 cannibal forks.
Buzzy, did you see this article regarding New Zealand antiquities?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/7037006/National-treasures-protected-by-arcane-law