Rapanui collection

some time ago, a good friend gave me some pieces from a collection a friend of his had given him. the later friend had lived on easter island some 30+ yrs ago. the first ones my friend gave me were the 'salad utensils', the wooden moai, and the volcanic moai. i got these gifts about a year ago.
the second set i traded with him two days ago for a painting and some hrs in the tattoo chair. i'm guessing they were all crafted for the tourist industry. even so, and along with their breaks and damages, i'm in love with them as much now as when i first layed eyes on them. when he first told me over the phone that he had aquired some 'easter island statues and some other stuff', i had no idea. upon seeing it all the first time, i told him as much about them as i could, then filled him in some more later from my books. so much yet to learn.
well here we go.

first up is the ceramonial paddle. used in dances i gather? can't remember nor locate the name of it right now, but could find it in a heartbeat in one of my books at work. it measures 3'5" in length, 6 3/4" wide on the tern end, and 6 1/2" on the face end. it has a joint near the tern's end- a peg about 1" with matching hole. a weak connection for the weight at either end, but it's held up fine through the years. nice piece.



on one side, the bird's head is up, on the other it's cocked down. only real differance from one side to the other.

that's one of the pieces i got yesterday.

next is the wooden moai with topknot. one pupil is missing, and worse, his lips are chipped. not bad though, and my friend has another of these in perfect condition. i'll try for that one at a later date. this guy measures 27" w topknot, 21 3/4" without. this and the paddle seem to be the same kind of wood. can anyone enlighten me?




is this the same way they would have carved the fitting in the topknot on the original moais?

so next is the fork and spoon set. definatly not an historical reproduction- or were the people of rapanui the first to carve over-sized salad utensils? found in the caves next to skulls and bird glyphs perhaps?
awesome shapes and craftmanship none the less. they're 14" in length. both broken multiple times, the one tine is lost forever. i added the string for hanging.




again, if someone could tell me the name of this wood i would appreciate it.

next up i have i small moai, shaped from volcanic rock i believe. he's 5 3/4" high alone, and 7 1/4" with his little ahu. they are different tones of color, and the moai more porous.(sp?) i don't know what the material is called, or what the eyes are made from. but if he is carved from the same craters/quarries as the true moai, then that alone makes him priceless in my eyes.

and last but certainly not least, possably my new most favorite piece of all my tiki, is the moai kavakava. this guy's beautiful. 20 1/2" high, his only damage is broken toes- missing unfortunatly. i don't know what type of wood he is, or the eye materials either. his artistry/craftmanship is topnotch. the fact that his earlobes have never broken is a small miracle. his mana and possibly akuaku have held him through some tough times. all these pieces were brought here from rapanui long ago, when they enjoyed only a relatively short time of care and display. they then fell victim to a crazed religous wife who believed them to be embued with much VOODOO. they were 'thrown' into boxes, then 'thrown' into attic spaces, where they were shuffled around every so often over the next many years. eventually, she wanted them out of the house, and that was when they ended up in the posession of my good friend. heathen relics saved from the fires of zealots. here he is-
















and so there you have it. again, if someone can id the eye, wood, and lava materials for me, that would be great.
sorry for the too-close blurry pics, and the poor lighting and the misspelling. hope all who look get at least a fraction of the enjoyement that i have from these.
thanks for looking and reading. mahalo! -pat

i dig your rapa nui pieces. your kava kava man is fantastic. i have a few too, but none as cool as him. i hope you don't mind me posting my pic here.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2007-08-01 09:03 ]

That kavakava figure is excellent! an incredible SCORE!

Ao Dance Paddle...

Regarding the wood, Im not near my books right now either, but most of the carvings feature wood imported from Chile. About the Pukao or Topknot, no this is not the way the ancients secured it. They used gravity..

[ Edited by: filslash 2007-08-01 13:53 ]

i agree, Capt.-thanks. filslash- thanks for the info. ao- oh yea! incredible how the moai erecters just used balanced weight. some look like they could be toppled by one hand. mahalo guys!

Wow Pat! Thanks for sharing these, they are incredible! Absolutely beautiful. If you ever get in focus pictures of the back detail on the rock one and the head of the kavakava guy, please post them. :)

These items were all carved for the tourist trade.

As Fil points out the scarcity of wood on the island (less so now than in recent centuries past) means that a lot of these carvings are actually made elsewhere and shipped to Rapa Nui!

There are only a handful of local carvers on the island who do truly exceptional work and who do it out of their shops in Hanga Roa; there are metric tons of lil' moai and kavakava men (etc) tha are made in South America and (yes) Cuba, and are sold as locally-carved.

Gorgeous, the kava kava man is definitely the highlight