I'd like to know more about this guy

I have a tiki mask I got from our grandparents and always had it up in my recording studio. I'm just curious if anyone knew anything about it. 

No info but FYI your second picture doesn't display because you pushed "Post" too soon. You have to wait until the image tag changes from "uploading" to "uploads", it can take several seconds

Thanks, sorry not used to forums.

I've come across masks similar to this that are marked as having been carved in the Philippines, but most are unmarked. Note that many Philippine masks were mass-produced and exported to Hawaii where they were sold in tourist shops as "local" art, so your grandparents could have picked it up on a trip to Manila, or Honolulu, or in a local thrift store on the mainland.

They have a unique style, but I don't necessarily think they're "Tiki", since they aren't representations of the gods worshipped by South Pacific islanders. They're more in the style of "Grotesque" art. The important thing is not whether or not it's authentic, but that it's a nice memento of your grandparents.

It does have many of the Philippine characteristics in evidence. I still see many items like this being sold as "native" to Hawaii or even Fiji. Much of the stuff in the souvenir trade now comes from Bali.

[ Edited by TIKIGIKI on 2022-12-28 18:54:04 ]

Cool, thanks guys. I'm definitely getting rid of the tiki fork and spoon. I just can't bring myself to get rid of this guy. He's one of my favorite tiki things, even though the wife hates it lol.

Late 1960’s….Mexico, and a very fancy one of that style. Side note: this type can be found on the walls of many vintage tiki joints.

[ Edited by hottiki on 2022-12-28 21:41:29 ]

"even though the wife hates it lol." I think it would look great hanging in your garage.

"Late 1960’s….Mexico, and a very fancy one of that style. Side note: this type can be found on the walls of many vintage tiki joints."

Yeah, like the Kahiki, I was told they came from Mexico as well.

I have a photo somewhere.

See I think they look the same. Here are the two that the Kahiki had hanging in their place and as Bill Sapp told us "we went down to Mexico to buy some of the Decore for the Kahiki"

These two were given to the Tropical Bistro boys and this is a photo of them hanging in the Tropical Bistro.

I don't know if they were sold at the auction at the Tropical Bistro or not as I did not go to the auction because it was going to be a big ol cluster F^%k as the FOM was going along with every other Kahiki nut in town and I knew the prices would be too high.

Would be nice if somebody who was at that auction would post here if they did indeed sell at that auction or not but most of the people that were there don't post here unless they are trying to sell you something.

The Bistro boys did sell lots of stuff before the auction and most of the good stuff including the lights I made and gave them were sold to one guy I was told "he was a cop"

Pay it forward people.

Yea those ones look like they were dam near made by the same person mine was made by! Wow thanks, I've looked alot. Never found one close to the one I have. Those could be brothers to mine lol.

I’ve lost count and copies of the photos that I had collected at some point long ago when I was trying to prove their merit in the the tiki corral. There are a couple of schools of thought on the tikiness of these vintage offerings. Some say yes, some say no, but I have to tip the balance to affirm since “I spy an old tiki carving type mask” in so many old time (old school) tiki bars near and far.

A few examples of the carvings and a couple of their placements in known tiki bar lounges

Damn hottiki I did not remember them being on the front door of the Kahiki!

AND I think those are the first front door as they had two different doors over the years.

The first doors were way cooler than the newer doors.

I love them all! Personally, I feel masks of a wide variety bring so much personality to a Tiki space. Bring them to me from the Philippines, Hawaii, Indonesia, Mexico, Africa - I crave that Globetrotting Trader vibe.

After all, at the root of everything, what is a Tiki, if not a representation of the Human Form? What is our most recognizable aspect, if not, arguably, our faces!

A couple more of these no named carved heads

It seems that I just can’t leave this alone…maybe it has to do with me being stoked a few years ago when I walked out of Goodwill with a 26” carved (tiki ?) wooden mask for $7.00. While we’re at it…any chance that the tiki in “The Beach Boy” coffee shop on PCH in Newport Beach could be the same type of carving as this post. I have seen the same type of carving as big as nearly five or six foot tall. And maybe that’s the reason that there is a stick/pole holding the head up in front of the body ?