What is this????

Picked this up in Japan but I am convinced it is Polynesian. The young man told me it was some sort of game but I am not too certain. If anyone has a clue what this might be or where it may have come from please let me know. Have done numerous seraches on the internet and have been able to come to the conclusion that no one has any idea what this is. I find it interesting but would love to be able to tell my friends the origin of this piece. Thank you in advance..

you keep your weed in it.

Kinda dark, and the only thing I can associate this piece with is Melanesian, not Polynesian:

From Irian Jaya, or Papua, Asmat region perhaps

thats what i was going to say too, but alos add that this may be a tourist piece since its a covered dish with a fancy base.

On 2011-02-06 22:02, pdrake wrote:
you keep your weed in it.

ha ha ha ha ha h

yup

It looks to be some sort of carving , possibly wood or some other type of natural fiberous substance .
The lidded bowl appears to be used for holding something and the bace is quite obviously flat to keep the contents from spilling.I cant say for sure what the figures are doing ...rowing ,churning butter, but no matter is is most likely symbolic of an activity that in some way represents their hard work and skills as craftsmen and survivors.
I'd say it's ornamental or as stated used for " holding weed "
( yes I'm just having fun! )
Looks cool!

m.f.k - Welcome to Tiki Central! As a pround member of the USMC I'm sure you have no use for a carved canoe trinket box to hold your pot, I would recommend that you send it to someone who can use it, like Squid or Little Lost Tiki :lol:

Two things you should know about the answers you are getting;
1 - TC is completely populated with nutjobs
2 - The longer the nutjobs keep bumping your thread to the top, the more likely someone who knows something will see it.

PS, you might want to post some closer and lighter pics :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/BATAK-SHAMAN-CONTAINER-2-SUMATRA-/110642395646?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c2ccf9fe#ht_668wt_907

Looks like a push-me/pull-you Aladan's Lamp!

If it helps

Thanks for everything so far. Here are some better pics, my wife hides the good cameras from me...Guess she's scared of what she might get pictures of! This is a cool piece and I really would just like some idea of what to say when someone asks what it is and where it came from.

On 2011-02-09 15:32, mate.feed.kill wrote:
Thanks for everything so far. Here are some better pics, my wife hides the good cameras from me...Guess she's scared of what she might get pictures of! This is a cool piece and I really would just like some idea of what to say when someone asks what it is and where it came from.

I don't think you'll be able to fit enough weed in there to make it worthwhile, but it looks cool.

It comes from the Tiki Limbo region. Where styles mix and copies coexist with originals.
Just make up a cool story (after smoking the weed) and say it costs a couple of thousands... Everyone will be impressed of how can a seemingly worthless piece of disturbingly carved wood can cost so much. Then they will ask you to don't bogart the joint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbiEOYv2Dyo

Lucas, what do gay mechanics have to do with m.f.k's stashbox? :lol:

I thought the topic was "what is this"? And since I could not figure out exactly WHAT that video was all about...I just went with it! :)

see, told you.

If you watch that video over and over about a dozen times you'll have the answer..!
pdrake ~ Great photo, is that crushed mint?????? :wink:

Check Out Da Website...www.beachbumz.com

[ Edited by: Beachbumz 2011-02-14 14:50 ]

Definitely pre-deluvian post Neandertal stashbox.

That's a Sumbanese tribal ancestor boat/bowl, from Sumba (once called Sandalwood Island), one of the Lesser Sudra Islands of eastern Indonesia. (See http://www.indonesiaphoto.com/facts/life/item/207-the-monumental-stone-tombs-of-sumba ).

They were originally used to convey chiefs and priests to the afterlife, rowed by their minions. The minions were “dispatched” at the time of the chief’s death, to leave them unencumbered and ready for the task. The bowl contained the ashes of the chief, and was interred in a carved-out cavity or chamber beneath a stone monolith.

Later, prominent persons, and finally, most persons of the tribe, were buried in this manner. The “minions” on the “boat” were no longer representative of real sacrificed servants, but became spirits that had the duty to convey the departed to the next world.

After contact with India, and later, the Dutch, the burial customs changed to the current practice of burying the whole body – sans boat - rather than the ashes, in the cavity, over which the monoliths were erected.

During the Japanese occupation of WWII, soldiers looted the chambers under the standing monoliths, hoping to find valuables. When they found an ancestor boat/bowl beneath one of the older monoliths, they emptied the ashes and kept them as souvenirs. Subsequently, a number came into the hands of British and American soldiers, who took them home. After the war, a collectors market developed, and the Sudra peoples, whose cultural traditions had been quite disrupted by the war experience, began to loot the older burials themselves, and sell the bowls – often still containing the ashes. Families that still knew which site belonged to their ancestors either protected the site, or reburied the remains in a more hidden way. But the sites that were “orphans” were free for the pillaging. Eventually, the authentic boats ran low, and reproductions were made, and “aged”, but true collectors quickly caught on. So, finally, most of the bowls being sold were reproductions and not represented to be anything other than that. The popularity of these items fell off after the Vietnam war, so most of the repros found “in the wild” would have been produced prior to 1970. The authentic pieces date, in some cases, back as far as the 15th century.

Authentic boats typically have some staining or discoloration, especially within the bowl, which might also contain traces of adhering residue.

"The rum's the thing..."

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2011-04-01 06:56 ]

Well, heck, if no one else is gonna call "B.S." on me (see the post, above), I'll have to do it, myself!

Thanks, Zeta, for the idea and the inspiration, back in February:

On 2011-02-10 09:57, Zeta wrote
”It comes from the Tiki Limbo region. Where styles mix and copies coexist with originals. Just make up a cool story* …. and say it costs a couple of thousands... Everyone will be impressed of how can a seemingly worthless piece of disturbingly carved wood can cost so much... ” *

Well, I thought,… who better to tell the "story" of an object from the Tiki Limbo region,… than the Limbo Lizard! I decided to wait until April 1 to post it - hope this works well enough, until the real story is uncovered.

"The rum's the thing..."

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2011-04-05 21:29 ]

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2016-04-01 07:12 ]

On 2011-02-10 13:16, lucas vigor wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbiEOYv2Dyo

WTF - First sign of the apocalypse?

Did someone say this is a polynesian weed container

[ Edited by: gold zephyr 2011-04-02 23:05 ]