HERESY! You say! Well my friends I offer incontrvertible proof that Ceramic Tikis and Ceramic Owls had a common ancestor.

I give you the missing link!

So I think all of you owl haters need to extend an olive branch to our distant relatives over at Owl Central...

TG

Say it ain't so!

That's the only tiki owl I have ever seen. The retina-burning orange is a nice touch, too. Congrats on finding the Missing Link. You'll have to name it, like "Turkana Boy", the way paleontologists do.

I'm off to try my new drink recipe for a Suffering Owl.

Lets see... How about Tiki Cristata Glaucidium

The Tiki Crested Owl?

Behold, The Tiki Owl!

This is from the book "Journeys Through Dreamtime: Oceanian Myth"

Perhaps as punishment for his misdemeanors, Tiki was denied the gift of immortality. But he lived on in artistic form, his name being given to the images that Maoris carved from wood and greenstone to represent their ancestors. In this guise he usually appeared with bird-like features - three-taloned hands, ear tufts, slanting eyes and a beaked face - that brought to mind an owl. The likeness was no coincidence, for the owl was associated with Rua, a hero who had won the secret of carving from the gods. Fittingly the first man was linked to the origins of his portrayal.

My whole world has just been turned on its head, now its official I better get down the charity shops for some owl stuff. When does the first mug come out?
Now all that Rapa Nui Birdman stuff makes sense.

This is scary. Do I have to do "The Book of Owl" now? What about the connection to Big Eye paintings?

Really amazing how much Treasure Craft ceramic is out there, they really must have cranked that stuff out, sort of the Coco Joe's of Ceramics. Too bad they have almost no Tikis in their line. I wish though that mug manufacturers would have adopted one good habit Treasure Craft had:
Many of their items are DATED underneath.

And I like that they used a lot of ORANGE swirl glazes.

Those eyes are not just retina-burning, they're hypnotic!

"You will obey tiki owl!

When I was a little kid, myself and all my siblings (9 kids!) somehow got it into our heads, that our Mom liked owls, and so for every birthday, mother's day etc. she got a bunch of $3 owls. She had a LOT of owls. No tiki owls, but lotsa big eyes...Owls are pretty cool creatures though. She likes owls, but apparently never intended to collect them.
mrs. 'boy, we sure do have a LOT of Pineapples in our house' pineapple

On 2005-01-25 07:43, bigbrotiki wrote:
This is scary. Do I have to do "The Book of Owl" now? What about the connection to Big Eye paintings?

Really amazing how much Treasure Craft ceramic is out there, they really must have cranked that stuff out, sort of the Coco Joe's of Ceramics...

You'll be happy to know Coco Joe's does have an owl, too.

A pair of owls - large ones - has taken up residence in the tree that shadows the tiki that welcomes visitors to the Lagoon Lounge.

When I returned from Daytona, one buzzed me as I strolled through the garden beds.

They've been carrying on for the last several nights during the full moon.

They keep saying "Ku... Ku."

If I hear one say "Pele" my house will be for sale.

Tiki Hooters!

On OwlPages.com (which, btw, has forums, including a collector area), has an article on Pueo, the sacred Hawaiian Owl, Pueo. When I was a little girl living in Hawaii, I had a childrens' album with a song about Pueo (I have the LP around somewhere still).

An Encounter with the Pueo of Hawaii

The short-eared brown owl, or Pueo:

Sadly, this one pictured does not have lava for eyes. That would be cool.

now that you mention it, last time I spent the night at my parents' house Mr. Smiley (aka "Tiki Guy" to my work colleagues and others) was with me; and my sleep was disturbed all night long by the sound of an owl hooting.

it really freaked me out.

coincidence?

and, I was driving around with Mr. "Tiki Guy" the other day and we mysteriously got behind a car whose only bumper sticker said "Follow me to HOOters!"

(okay, that was a stretch...)

I don't know... The back of that owl looks very Wahine like...

I think I like it better than the front.

Glen Grant's "Obake Files" has three stories about supernatural Pueo. From The Pueo's Revenge:

*Vengeance could also be meted out by the 'aumakua who had been neglected or desecrated. Samuel M. Kamakau relates the story of the man living at Kipahulu who one day saw a dead owl on the roadside. Only the wings and bones of the bird were left, held together by a few feathers. The head was missing.

Dropping his trousers to show the dead owl his okole, backside, the man with a sneer said, "Bird of mana that you are, O Owl, what was it that caused your Death? Here is a head for you!"

At that moment a part of the man's intestines slipped out, "like an octopus tentacle" drying in the sun. Horrified and in abject pain, he went to a kahuna who said, "You exposed your buttocks as a head for the owl and treated the owl with contempt."*

The man followed the kahuna's instructions on how to properly repent and his intestines eventually crawled back up his bum. Don't mess with owls!

Talk about synchronicity, just stumbled across this auction featuring a Tiki Owl in it's natural tiki environment.

They're suggesting that the owl is a Witco.

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-01-25 17:37 ]

Kono, that's a lovely romantic story from old Hawaii, one day I will tell it to my grandchildren...

That WAS a Witco Owl, I can't find it in that seller's store anymore, betcha I know who got it.

Surprisingly, Witco did not make very many owls, they were more into cats.

I know where one of those Witco Owls is, but the seller won't go down below $40. The problem is, she speaks almost no English and has no idea that it is even a Witco. She just knows that I'm mildly interested and is very stubborn. Her daughter had even offered it to me for $5 earlier that day. Now I suppose I must refuse to buy it out of principle.

Sabu

I've been hesitant to bring this up,but this is the second year in a row that a mated pair of great horned owls has taken refuge in our trees.Great horned owls are huge-they range from 18"to 25" in height,and truly are silent when they fly.They have been "havin'a good ole time"each evening,so in a few months,we'll have little owls again.It really is fascinating to hear them,and to look out the window and see these huge birds sitting on tree branches.One of the most interesting things about little owls (and they're cute as a bug's ear)is that little owls tend to fall out of trees when they're learning to fly.They tumble to the ground,kind of shake their heads,and head to the nearest treetrunk where they proceed back up the tree.Mom and Dad are watching them,eagle-eyed,and you can bet we keep a respectful distance when that happens.Just something that money can't buy.

From the CREATING OWL forum at Owl Central:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=118564&messageid=1106359855

-Z

On 2005-01-26 10:00, bigbrotiki wrote:
That WAS a Witco Owl, I can't find it in that seller's store anymore, betcha I know who got it.

Surprisingly, Witco did not make very many owls, they were more into cats.

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-01-27 14:32 ]

Didn't owls play a part in Twin Peaks?

Didn't Laura Palmer's psychatrist have a fascination with tiki?

hmmmmmm?....

The owls are not what they seem.