Vintage Tiki Statue Find - Please help indentify

Hi,

We came across what seems to be a rare piece. I am not sure if it actually is Hawaiian / Polynesian, but it would take somebody with more knowledge to help with that.

This Tiki is absolutely stunning, the energy it emits can be felt by everybody. It is about 6-7 feet tall, and weighs about 750 pounds or so. The pictures tell everything we know, so any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Any information, if not about the staute itself, maybe a source to ask. Thanks Everyone!

[ Edited by: wdrummer 2010-10-24 11:24 ]

AGAIN!!!
What part of the country are you in??? /or what part of the country did you find it????

Salt lake City, Utah

Welcome to Tiki Central. Seriously. Congratulations on a nice item. That being said, since you are asking for advice, here's mine: If you are looking for an appraisal as to value....I don't think you should expect to get someone here to say to you...
"That would sell for x amount". If you are keeping it, it doesn't matter what it is worth. If you are wanting to sell it, you will need to price it yourself or auction it. If you were wanting other advice, First thing I'd do is get it off the bare ground or put it inside out of the elements. I know I haven't seen it in person, but if that thing weighs 750, then so do I. Again, congrats and please add more detail pictures if you like.

Non-Skeptical Response: Usually, the best source for information on a piece such as this is the person/persons you bought it from. What did they say about it? If nothing, dig a little deeper. From whom did THEY get it? What restaurants/bars/amusement parks in your area were recently closed that this may have come from? Is there an artist or carver in your area know for this sort of work? Search libraries, city directories, newspapers, postcard collections, etc. Buy or borrow books on Poly-Pop culture and oceanic art. In short, become an "Urban Archeologist" (to borrow a term from the Big Bro of tiki). It's fun, and it will change your life.

All I can personally say is, it looks like a palm log "root ball" carving done in the Tonga style.

Skeptical Response: Lead with the whole "energy emitting" thing and throw in parts of my second paragraph. Loose the 750lb part, though. That's gonna make the shipping a bugger.

Either way, welcome to TC. You've come to the right place. Hope you're ready.

On 2010-10-24 20:09, SilverLine wrote:
carving done in the Tonga style.

I think that piece was in the defunct Kalihai tiki Bar in Provo. It closed in 1960, but you can clearly see it sitting out in front of the restaurant in this postcard picture that DC posted in another thread:

Here's an article that MoEye found in the SLC paper achives from 1958 that shows the carver of this tiki, Fred Willifredo, in his studio:

You can see a tiki just like it behind his right shoulder, next to the mug collection.

Tikis like that usually go better if you sell them by the pound, so you should weigh it to get the most money out of it.

On 2010-10-24 20:09, SilverLine wrote:
carving done in the Tonga style.

Not even close...

It's PNG based.

Buzzy Out!

PNG stands for Papua New Guinea.

[ Edited by: GROG 2010-10-26 18:31 ]

Hmmm. Buzzy, you are confusing folks with your ironic spoof answer, you have been such a reliable source of true info that readers here will take it for face value!

The reason Buzzy felt inspired to answer thus, and the reason for the careful reactions you are seeing here may be because of such lines as..
"This Tiki is absolutely stunning, the energy it emits can be felt by everybody" ...sound to us more jaded, pragmatic Tiki veterans like pretentious e-bay seller sales pitches (and so does the musing about it being "actually Hawaiian/Polynesian") - especially for a carving that some of the more experienced sculptors here might see as just a naive hack job.

For others that very same look of naive primitivism might represent the special quality of the piece, so I am not passing judgment, the root ball is very cool for sure. But it ain't a native original, nor exactly a masterpiece of American Tiki style, and as such has very low energy emission in my book. No smog check necessary. :)

On 2010-10-25 00:43, bigbrotiki wrote:
Hmmm. Buzzy, you are confusing folks with your ironic spoof answer, you have been such a reliable source of true info that readers here will take it for face value!

Yes, and i'd like to apologize to all those who are waiting for me to repost my pictures. I would, but I just talked to the editor of my forthcoming book "Tikies for Dummies: the North American Field Guide to PolyPop and Traditionally Based Tiki Carvings", and he said I have to take them down until the book is published. That will be in March of 2017, tentatively.

Damn copyright laws!
Oh well, I tried. You can preorder a copy of my book in the meantime here on Amazon.com
Buzzy Out!