Witco find - "Big Joe"

My husband & I were driving through Edmonds, WA this past weekend, and stopped at an antique mall. We found this carved cedar tiki, about 6' tall, & had to get it .Hoping it was a Witco, I emailed keigs20 a photo, for his knowledgeable opinion. Woohoo ! It is a Witco, the first style of totem that Witco made, called Big Joe. There are 2 holes drilled in the middle. Aside from that & a few scratches, its in pretty good shape. Here's a photo of Big Joe, and also a photo from Witco's catalog that Keigs20 has kindly provided. Thanks for all the great information, Ken. Its much appreciated !

That tiki is great! Did you get a good deal?

waikiki

Nice find!

Looks a little beaten up, but is that just the photo?

Trader Woody

I paid $ 185. It could have been cheaper, but I kept thinking " when am I going to see another one of these? " Although the tiki doesn't have quite the shine that the Witco catalog photo has, my photo could definitely be better. I took the photo in my dark garage, and my flash kind of blasted parts of it to make some of it look alot lighter than it really is, and makes the bottom look alot darker and duller. Oh well. I spent more time fixing the photo to block out the background, so everyone wouldn't see just how much junk I have in my garage !

We also got a Space Needle plaque, for $ 22, that looks alot like a Witco. I asked Keigs20 about
that one, and he's checking on it. Witco had a booth at the Seattle World's Fair, so there's a chance. I'll post a photo of that one later, if anyone would like to see it.

I wonder if there is a way to get the tiki looking a little more spiffy like the original photo? Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.

On 2003-04-30 14:20, puamana wrote:
I paid $ 185. It could have been cheaper, but I kept thinking " when am I going to see another one of these?

Puamana,
$185 is not a bad price especially considering it's an original. In my opinion, very good score!

you can slather it up with feed n wax. that will gloss it up a tad and darken the wood nicely/hide blemishes. It protects the wood, etc and is an all around good thing.

Or you can go and give it a light coat of varnish- satin matte (test coat on underside first to be sure you like the results)

Thanks for the info , I'll give feed n wax a try.