Kahiki Tiki? Lookie and Help me!

Hi folks-

I recently picked up this very awesome Tiki (I'd say!) via internets...

He's about 52" tall (a bit taller than our Witco God of Fortune) and carved from palm. He came from a seller who said he got it a few weeks back at an estate sale in Columbus, OH that was held in a warehouse. The person HE bought it from claimed it dates back to the 50's or 60's (but ain't that always the way?)

So... obviously, my thought is "Columbus... hmmm... part of the great Kahiki diaspora?"

So here's his glamour shots:

Clearly, Columbus is a big place, and he really coulda come from anywhere, but in 10+ years of collecting, I've never seen one like 'im, and the style is unlike any carver I'm familiar with, but the stylized look does feel kinda 60's. There IS a signature on the back:

Looks like it says "KLAEB"...??

The top of his head is hollowed out in a bowl shape...

...and there's a slit in his back connected to it...

I was thinking maybe it had been a fountain, but there's no connection from the hole in the back to his mouth, or water damage on the tongue.
So it got me to wondering what the hell that slot could possibly be for! Then, after a few drinks and 36 pages of the official Kahiki
thread on TC, I found THESE pictures Tikiship posted last year:

...where the man said:

"Here is a tiki from the last auction of Kahiki stuff.
These tiki had a hollow center and a large hole at the top.
This is how I think those tiki were at one time with a float on the top.
We may never know but this is one of the tiki I wanted from the sale but never bid. "

HMMM.... could this guy have been a lamp at Kahiki? That would be totally insane and awesome.

The carving strikes me as WAY too good and consistent throughout the sculpture to be a tossed off hobbyist piece (and if it is, I hope the carver
kept working and made more pieces...)

Unless the slot in the back was put there because this was in somebody's yard and they wanted to drain the water out (though... there's not
really any water damage, and a hole would be easier to drill than carving a slot) or there's a piece missing that makes it obvious
("Oh! A bird feeder!"), a light kinda makes sense, even though his body isn't hollowed out, as Tikiskip mentions.

Regardless...I absolutely love it. Having some history would just make it that much cooler.

Just look at that face! How can you not like that face?

Thoughts? Input? Skip? Where are ya Skip?

--Pete

Interesting piece!

I've been going to the Kahiki since the 80's and have never seen that one. The carved name doesn't ring a bell either.

Could be from another Polynesian restaurant in town. Columbus, and the surrounding areas had a LOT of them!

I don't remember seeing that at the Kahiki, either, but it's a good one. I would get it, but without paying extra for the "Kahiki connection" :)

"The person HE bought it from claimed"

I hate to hear that, it's like insurance if you come back and say "this tiki is new".
He goes well all I can say is the guy told me.....

BUT it is a nice tiki.
Some of the stuff from Kahiki I was told by bill they got in Mexico.
And some of it came from Oceanic Arts we know.
But this tiki does not look like any of those.
It looks better than some of the Mexican ones really.
If it was old it would be really hard and dry, Is it?
The mouth has a newer fresh sanded look, am I wrong?

I do not remember seeing it at the Kahiki.

Knew a girl at the bank that said that she had a tiki from the Kahiki that they
never put in the Kahiki because it had a wanger and they thought it best not to put it out.
So it was a mint tiki from Kahiki, tried to buy it but she would not sell.
I think she knew Bob at Oceanic Arts and he may have given it to her, ask him he may remember.

There was the Waikiki restaurant on Broad st as well.
AND The Top Of The Isle downtown.
Where was the auction?
Was it held by the same lady who had the last Kahiki auction.
What else was in the auction?

More question than answers.

Look here.
The Waikiki restaurant
AND The Top Of The Isle downtown.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24015&forum=1&hilite=Waikiki restaurant

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2015-02-12 14:41 ]

I can't add anything to the discussion except to say that I love him! Great tiki!

I'm a sucker for tikis that have cool tongues.

This is the original post from last sale, her last name was Katz and her dad is Kyle Katz I think.
Big money real estate guy.
She was flaky and hard to deal with in the end.
I think she thought she was going to make more than she did.

The warehouse that this stuff was in is gone, tore down.

When this was posted nobody called her but me.
Could not believe it.
Then the Katz lady called persons in California and it got nutty from there.
Most of the Stuff went to Vermont.
Did get some stuff before California and Vermont started to talk money with Katz lady.

kttykat
Member

Joined: Aug 19, 2006
Posts: 1 Posted: 2006-08-19 6:32 pm Permalink

We have all of the items from the Kahiki that have been in our storage for a proposed new Kahiki. The present Kahiki Co. has ordered us to dispose of these items, which include the large Tiki God from the fireplace, the 2 smaller Tiki Gods which flanked the front door, the bar, the booth separators, the 7' diameter ships steering wheel, the metal sculpture from the top of the building, etc.

If anyone is interested in purchasing items, please contact us, as they will be available in about 2 weeks, when we finish sorting and have them ready for viewing, by appointment.

Kapac Co.
email: [email protected]

Thanks for the input, folks!

The Kahiki connection was a hunch on my part... whether he's from the Kahiki or not, I dig 'im. He's definitely old... it's carved from palm, so
there are some spongy bits (where the outer bark connects to the harder, inner core), but it's very solid and dry, and has a similar patina to
some other, older palm-carved Tikis I've seen.

Also... I did buy 'im. I thought he was a steal at $120 shipped to our doorstep. Any old, well-made 5 foot tall Tiki for a hundred bucks seemed
too good to pass up. There was no Kahiki-connection in the auction...

Not to sound like a noob (we've been at this awhile), but I don't know much about Columbus' other former Tiki treasures, so that is stuff I will definitely have to look into (Waikiki & Top of the Isle)... I had no idea! I figured anybody in a town with Kahiki wouldn't dare try and siphon their style.

I sent the seller a few questions, i.e. who was running the estate sale, who's stuff it was, etc... if they provide me with any useful stuff, I will definitely share it here straight away.

Thanks again... I love a good Tiki mystery!

--Pete

great find man !

Great find at $120 for sure.

If it was from The Waikiki or The Top Of The Isle it is more rare than Kahiki stuff I say.
Have never seen much of anything from those places.

And there were so many folks making stuff for the Kahiki, and they bought
items from many different places.
NOW add to that there were I guess you could say three different owners of the Kahiki.
How could anyone know for sure if it was or was not Kahiki.

All you can do is see if it matches the many different styles that made
up the Kahiki décor, and or hope to see it in pictures or movies.

Good luck.

Whulp... seller got back to me on this. Not a ton to go on, unfortunately...

He said it was from Auction Ohio... no other Tiki stuff in the auction.

Time to start digging into those other Columbus joints... unfortunately a cursory search hasn't turned up much
in the way of pictures. Both must have been pretty early in the Tiki game, no? The handful of matchbooks,
swizzles and what-not I've seen pictures of (primarily here and on Critiki) are giving off a 30's/40's vibe.

I wouldn't THINK this guy was quite that old, but it's really hard to say. Standing amidst our other Witco Tikis and such,
he looks like he could be as old as time (though I think that's due to the shiny, shiny, clean finish on the Witco stuff, as
opposed to this fella who looks to be wholly un-treated.)

Stuff turns up in the weirdest places... just glad this one ended up here!

He's in good hands...

On the off chance I discover something earth-shattering, I'll certainly post.

In the meantime, thanks much for all the help, folks!

--Pete

The top of his head is hollowed out in a bowl shape...and there's a slit in his back connected to it...

I wonder if he was meant to have a plant in his head and that was the drainage slot? Like a Boston Fern for hair.
Nice looking Tiki

What an incredible find! And now it has a good home, regardless of it's origin.