Origin Of These Carved Panels? OA Update

I have more questions than answers. These appear to be older Oceanic Arts stuff. What is your opinion?

[ Edited by: bongofury 2008-06-09 04:56 ]

Bongofury ,
A few questions
Where did you see them.
Do you have them now .
How much do you know about them so far .
What is the wood .

Jock

I saw them at an antique store.
The owner said they were African.
I've seen something similar in a photo outside the Enchanted Tiki Room.
I was thinking OA Whittier, not South Pacific.
Not sure of the wood, but they are stained both sides with a lighter wood showing through.

Ron, I don't think they are from the O.A. Ouvre. Never seen them, neither there, in situ in one of their Tiki temples, or in their catalog.

Toataiaha.....yes I do have them
Found them in Palm Springs last year
They have holes where they were mounted...
Would be nice to know if they were from Aloha Jhoe's or The South Pacific Room

Sven.....this is why I thought OA or? Not exactly the same but a similar style

they look N Z to me. but what do i know?

Maori (NZ) carving has purpose , balance and information to impart .
The design placement of carving , on , and of the work piece itself , are a part of that .
At it's most basic , it is signage.

With these panels above ;
The overall shape of each individual panel has , (to me) , no discernible purpose .
And within that , the works have no balance .
These two (3?) have neither the first nor the second criteria , and therefore seem hard pressed to meet the third .

They may be , at a stretch , practice pieces from NZ that somehow ended up overseas , 'tho most tutors would not , I suspect , let them out of the workshop .

They may be an attempt to emulate Maori whakairo , but they seem to fail in that regard .

One way to identify them , may be to email then to carving schools around the Pacific .
It may be that they are very old works , in a style that is from before the colonial era, and therefore of great value , to the world .

Maybe.:)

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-06-04 04:21 ]

I thought they were more of the Polynesian Pop stylized genre than something authentic from the South Seas. I like them.

i went over to the warehouse today,and looked at some of the panels from KON-TIKI Cleveland and they look alot like the stuff steve crane had made for the Kon-Tiki chain. maybe ,i think ,just guessing ,what do i know, what ever . if you like'm,hang'm.

On 2008-06-04 12:00, bongofury wrote:
I thought they were more of the Polynesian Pop stylized genre than something authentic from the South Seas. I like them.

Bongo ,
I can see that you do , 'cos you got them :)

Sorry , I got a bit carried away with the technical stuff :oops:
Jock

Bongo did you end up buying the panels?
There are lot of antique stores in Ventura county.

Thanks all. Palm Springs Antique store in 07.
They are hanging on the Rincon Room, my home bar.
First panel is 18" X 30"
The other is 18" X 36"

Bongo- you did an insane job on your Rincon room-much kudos to you.
We all watch the progress of your back yard, but I don't believe I
saw any completed interior picture shots though.
If you could be so inclined or direct to the pics on TC
Mahalo,
Trader Bill

I need to update the progress on the room, house, and yard. It looks a bit different now.

I like the smiley faced bat at the top. Looks like something LLT would add to his work.

I got an email from Bob at Oceanic Arts telling me that they are indeed theirs. First one is #483-Maori Sheild
Second one is #479-Tahitian Sheild

Handcarved in the 1960s from Sugar Pine or Redwood. Yeehaw!

Did he have any record or recollection of any of the Palm Springs tiki palaces having purchased them?

Dang, waddaya know! Shows what happens if I do not have my archive handy to double check. Ron, you beat my Tiki eye! Congrats to a fine find and a hunch becoming a fact!