Trader Vic's Pig Mug?

Is this legit? My gut says no.

Yeah, I saw that on flea-bay and said What the f**?

I also await a ruling from the judges.

They were used to serve Vic's famous Mai Sty.

Navy Hog?

Hogcutter?

Scorpigon Bowl?

Singaboar Sling?

IN the oceanic books, Kava was served in a pig bowl.

[ Edited by: teaKEY 2007-11-01 13:40 ]

On 2007-11-01 12:20, teaKEY wrote:
Kava was severed in a pig bowl.

mmm... severed kava...

i think it might be for a porks reviver

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-20 20:14 ]

Well, it closed yesterday at $59.76, so someone believes/knows it's from TV.

On 2007-10-31 18:31, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
They were used to serve Vic's famous Mai Sty.

No that's their "swine glass".
I was gonna HOG that for myself until the price went up too high.

On 2007-11-01 21:57, filslash wrote:
Aloha,

I actually think it's right. And yes, the pig is huge in Polynesia.

Vic was a sculptor and did many animals. 1984 would have been a few years before the closing of the SF Cosmo street locale in SF.

So you think this is a personal piece of work done by Vic as opposed to something used in the restaurants?

On 2007-11-04 23:41, LOL Tiki wrote:

So you think this is a personal piece of work done by Vic as opposed to something used in the restaurants?

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-20 20:17 ]

On 2007-11-05 11:56, filslash wrote:

On 2007-11-04 23:41, LOL Tiki wrote:

So you think this is a personal piece of work done by Vic as opposed to something used in the restaurants?

Nope, i didn't say that, and didn't mean that.

As a sculptor, did he design barware/dinnerware for his restaurants?

Vic's work seemed mostly to be little bronzes...

Small Penguins, and other animals etc...

Just what I've seen.

But here's a big example... from Berkley heritage

Smilodon californicus, commonly known as the sabretoothed cat or sabretoothed tiger, is the official California State Fossil. The smilodon statue in the photo above was created by Victor Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic’s, and can be found in the plaza south of McCone Hall on the U.C. campus, where it has been pouncing on passers-by for many years.

These days, the big cat’s pounce is blocked by an even larger trailer that takes up most of the plaza. The trailer serves the construction project across the way, where the C.V. Starr East Asian Library will be built on the recently despoiled and graded Observatory Hill.

[ Edited by: filslash 2007-11-05 13:39 ]

This enigmatic white ibex (or some sort of antelope) at the old Beverly Hills Trader Vics was also a sculpture by Vic himself.

Vic painted too.

(The golfing nuns always crack me up.)

Guess the pig had a brother? Sister? Not one of a kind for sure...

This little piggy stayed home

Maybe someone should ask the dealer for the story behind the pig?

Tikisgrl

Sure it wasn't Trader Nic? Looks like the so called "V" could have been an "N"

LOL

Wow, talented guy that Vic.

On 2007-11-05 16:59, Tikisgrl wrote:
...Maybe someone should ask the dealer for the story behind the pig?

Tikisgrl

Good idea. I sent the seller a note asking how the pig is connected to Trader Vic.

The Seller responds...

Hello,
Thanks for the question! This pig was designed by Victor Bergeron in 1984, the same year that the Trader passed away. His daughter in law is a farmer - one day while out on the farm photographing pigs, he felt inspired to sculpt this ceramic pig, referred to as the “fat pig container” and a smaller statue of the same pig. He did create a drink for it initially, but was not pleased with the creation and the pig was retired soon after it was created, most of these rare art pieces were kept within the family. We have a small quantity that we are selling to the public.
-Mysterious Insider :wink:

• mtartifacts

another chance at the swine: ebay item number - 120180466893
http://cgi.ebay.com/Trader-Vics-Ceramic-Pig-Mug_W0QQitemZ120180466893QQihZ002QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The lucky winner takes home a little piggy for $109.26 + $7.00 s/h.

Here's another polypop pig:

Coco Joe Piggy Pack. Never seen one of these before today. What was in the hollowed out part?

On 2007-11-10 14:56, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
What was in the hollowed out part?

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-20 20:18 ]

Sweet little oinker.

Wish I had access to that cool pig scorpion bowl illustration from the Tonga Lei menu...it probably remained an illustration, never seen one in hard ceramic form.

In lieu of that, here my favorite pig pin up, shot (photographed!) last week in situ :) :

OK, so I am home now, and just came across the above mentioned Tonga Lei menu. And thus, behold:

The Tonga Lei Pig Bowl ! :

Anybody ever seen anything like that !?

Here is the menu's cover, you have seen it in the BOT:

It seems that the mug illustrations in it are partially based on existing designs: The Tiki bowl, the skull mug, and the Cobra's Fang (though rare) do exist. But that Tiki mug (and the handled one underneath the bowl) seem sort of generic and do not ring a bell in my mug memory. So it seems likely that the pig bowl was just the menu illustrator's fancy.

So I'm looking through all the photos on the "Trader Vic Warehouse Sale" thread - look who's hanging out on the shelves in the upper left background:

For me, that pretty much verifies that these pig mugs are authentic TV.

Yeah, I'd say that confirms it.

Agreed, that's pretty solid confirmation. The photo should be saved for posterity; I don't think "ceramic pig" is the first thing that pops into people's minds when they hear "Trader Vic's". Good eye!

It's from Trader Vics, but is it safe to classify it "Tiki" or "Polynesian Pop"?
I asked this question before:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22376&forum=1&start=45

Good point; some of the later TV stuff was horrific (Red Pants, Peeping Tom). Maybe if the pig had an apple in its mouth...?

LOL Tiki - the TV mugs you cited are not "later stuff" - they were hand-made in Hawaii in the 60's-70's-80's(?) by Polynesian Pottery (Daga) and I think "SSS" exclusively for the Trader Vic's in Waikiki. This Trader Vic's was not associated with the TV Corporation or Vic himself - something Vic railed about often.

"Horrific" is kind of a rough description - how about "crude" instead? Each mug is different, and have a lot of character and detail. Another Trader Vic Hawaii mug is the famous Seahorse mug - later made by Louie B Ceramics up into the 90's for the Fisherman's Wharf restaurant, and now made by Gecko.