Vintage Alva Studios Museum Replica Moai

I first saw this in a shop several months ago and finally decided to go back and work a deal to bring him home.

It is a beautiful Easter Island Moai in 2 color tones. This is a replica souvenir made for sale at a museum in Boston. I don't know if they were ever offered elsewhere. The company which produced them was Alva Museum Replicas, Inc. They were actually made at ALVA STUDIOS of New York City to mimic the original Moai which were carved out of the lava quaries on Easter Island or "Rapa Nui". (For anyone who did not already know, the "topknot" or reddish stone came from a different quarry on the island than did the body and head portion of the Moai which explains the diffent color of the stone). This piece is made of a heavy plaster or cement material. It appears to be painted instead of being tinted cement/plaster and the topknot molded as a second piece was affixed with epoxy. The height is 16 inches and the base is 4" x 6". It is marked on the back side of the base with a 1968 date. I did not find this mentioned before on TC nor did I find anything about it while serching the web. I am really glad to add this to my tiki collection!!!
Here are a few photos.

This is the sticker on the bottom of the statue.

Cool find! :) Great story behind it.

On 2007-01-28 16:08, 8FT Tiki wrote:

This is a replica souvenir made for sale at a museum in Boston.

Peabody museum at Harvard.

For anyone who did not already know, the "topknot" or reddish stone came from a different quarry on the island than did the body and head portion of the Moai which explains the diffent color of the stone/

Collection of Rapa Nui artifacts at the Peabody
More collection

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-18 17:21 ]

Thanks for the added info Filslash. I clicked on the link and it goes to Harvard not Yale. Not that I would have been able to tell but all the TC alumni from those fine institutions surely would. Anyway, thanks again.