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Strange plaster figure? What is this thing?

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OK, I am guessing this is NOT tiki, but I have been wrong before. Anyway I found this strange plaster figure at a local thrift shop. It seems strangely familiar, but...

Anyway, the only marking is "COPY" and the little dude is pretty creepy. It appears to be a warrior or hunter of some sort, a native or even a devil? (note the small horn-like things?) He is holding down a small animal and has something in his hand, possibly a weapon or cloth or?

Also possibly the strangest of all are the two cone shaped holes in his head. I could see the one on top maybe being for a place to burn incense or something, but what could the one in the back be for?

I am at a total loss on this one, any ideas?


note the two dark spots which are deep cone shaped holes?

K
kirby posted on Thu, Apr 28, 2011 5:53 PM

It looks a maori candle holder..

Not Maori is it not a Dyak headhunter lamp base, the horns are part of the hairstyle, didn't someone post one of these here years ago?

It doesn't look Maori to me, but you might be on to something with the Headhunter... I can't visualize this is a lamp, but...

Here are a couple more photos of the "cone shaped holes". The holes are blackened almost like there is some soot or ash in them, very strange. There are not connected as far as I can tell.


H

Looks like the little fellar is running ala commando, so no loin cloth to match up to a tribe with. Those ear plugs look very Borneo, and many of their carvings include the little pointed eared animal being carried around the neck. The bottom says "copy"...so it wouldn't get mixed up with the original ? How many of these could there be ? Still, it's pretty cool !!

Looks like a Central-American piece to me. Mayan or Colima maybe. Tourist reproduction of a pre-Columbian deer hunter figure.

That's my guess.

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