Witco fountain found in Maryland!

An impossible dream has come true! About a month ago I had some spare time and headed up to Havre de Grace MD to browse at the many antique stores. I spent a good hour at a large antique mall and decided I'd try one other place before heading home and instead of driving I figured I'd take a walk. So as I'm heading up the street I catch a glimpse of what appears to be a giant tiki out front of the store I'm heading for. As I got closer I made it out and let loose with a hearty, "holy shit!" At first I didn't realize it had been a fountain... the pump base and bowl were missing but the flat area beneath his head and his feet gave an indication of its former glory. There was a $250 price tag that seemed reasonable but I went in anyway to see if I could talk 'em down a little. To make a long story short I got it for $200 cash.

I know some of you may think it's blasphemous but as you can see I've added a customized replacement bowl and base... kinda like adding lake plugs to a stock '49 Ford. One day I hope to commission Keigs to build a traditional replacement bowl and pump housing but for the time being my bamboo bowl and lava rock base will work fine. Damn, I didn't take a pic of the fountain in operation... will do that later! I didn't want to share the fountain until I had it up and running and it was nearly driving me crazy trying to keep it under wraps!

CONGRATS!!!

it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person (well, maybe me :) ) I love stories like this... give us all a little hope and reason to keep on the hunt. Can't wait to see more pics!

:drink:

-Z

Awesome. Another Witco comes in from the cold. Enjoy.
KG

Very Very nice indeed John. Well now we're all gonna come over and marvel @ this great dicovery.

I can see your face now. Congrats on the great score.

On 2005-05-20 19:14, in response to the witco fountain found by tikicleen & the drunken hat, johntiki wrote:
Wow! What a score! I think I'd lose my mind if I ever found a Witco fountain... why oh why do I have to live in Maryland?! Nobody had cool stuff like that!

...and to think you wrote this just a month ago. who knew?! people in maryland did have cool stuff! congrats john!

and ps, the bowl looks great! if it were me, i wouldnt be in any hurry to replace it.

:)

Johntiki, that is FAB-ulous!! Congratulations!!!!
And for a totally do-able price, too!!! (It always adds to the pleasure for me, for some perverse reason, when the price was already great and you can get them to make it lower still!!)

Now you'll never be able to complain about the lack of scores in Maryland, huh!! Witco fountains are NOT small potatoes!!

sweet man, you continue to add tiki cred to the MD! :)

As promised... pics of the fountain in operation.

wide shot...

close-up...

Very cool! Your bowl and stand look perfectly at home with the fountain, you've done a great job.

You will never regret buying this one.
I stole...er, BOUGHT one very similar to this one a few years ago, and he really "ties the room together" to paraphrase the Dude. They don't usually make it this far (when were those carved- 30? 40 years ago?) in PERFECT shape, and mine was certainly no exception! I agree that the improvised bowl setup looks pretty cool, but you could build a replica of the original base yourself without having MAJOR carving skills, IMHO.

John that is a great find. See this area is good for Witco finds. If you decide to make your own base. You can use mine to measure if you like since I live pretty close to you. I just bought a pump. I want to get mine working as well. Although my cat will sit and drink out of it then. Scott

Tikicar - I might take you up on your offer when the time comes!

JohnTiki, that is quite possibly the most excellent find in Maryland EVER! I am just so glad it found a home with one of the tribe instead of disappearing off to someone who wouldn't have a clue what it was and decided one day to use it as a coathanger!

The Tiki Gods have smiled down upon you!

that really is "an impossible dream."congrats.....

Nice to see several of these Witco fountains go to good homes in the past year. Congratulations John. Personally, I like the fountain bowl you have set up.

Sabu

What a wonderful find! Congratulations John!

I echo the past comments that it is great to see such cool witco fountains going to loving homes.

There should be an international 'adopt a witco' or 'witco rescue' foundation for those of us who love the style.

It's sad to think of those that could be being teased and neglected right this second

Thanks for the congratulations and for the positive feedback on the bowl/base set-up... now I don't feel like I've desecrated the Witco!