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Mystery Tiki - Answering the questions: "Where is this tiki from? "Who made it?" What is it for? |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11003
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2010-05-12 7:59 pm Permalink
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On 2010-05-12 18:21, Zeta wrote:
Anyway, who carved that tiki I posted above?!?! the quality of the carving is too good to be amateur... the signature, the kind of tiki... who ever did this is a professional tiki carver. But who?
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A possible answer:
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On 2010-05-11 17:24, throberts2 wrote:
I am looking for a new fern wood tiki and found this site. I can shed some light on the subject, I bought mine in 1961 for a house in hawaii. I think I ordered it from a prison in Hawaii because I was told it was carved by prisoners. It maybe that I ordered it from the old Bamboo Window. Guess I am not going to get a new one.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2049
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-05-12 9:01 pm Permalink
I know... Tiki carving in prision make doing time sounds like fun! But I was not talking about the fern tiki, I was talking about this one:
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On 2010-03-23 07:38, Zeta wrote:
What about this one?
I really like it...
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11003
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-05-12 9:30 pm Permalink
Aaaaah, the "ribbed Ren Clark" (my unqualified term) ! A mystery Tiki indeed, and a fine one at that!
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2049
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-07-12 9:21 pm Permalink
Is this even a tiki?
pewter the size of a hand
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  ¡Viva Tiki! Ambassador of Tiki in Mexico. Zeta is specialized in the research, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2049
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-07-12 9:56 pm Permalink
What about this one? who did it? Where does it came from?
Vintage for sure
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¡Viva Tiki! Ambassador of Tiki in Mexico. Zeta is specialized in the research, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2049
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-07-20 10:21 pm Permalink
The carver who did these tikis is a real artist and a pioneer. Amazing skills, originality in the theme... Who is he?
P.S. What's the story with the "pewter tiki" I posted two posts above?
Thanks for participating...
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¡Viva Tiki! Ambassador of Tiki in Mexico. Zeta is specialized in the research, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.
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Bay Park Buzzy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2006
Posts: 2793
From: West Bay Park, San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2010-07-20 11:12 pm Permalink
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On 2010-07-20 22:21, Zeta wrote:
The carver who did these tikis is a real artist and a pioneer. Amazing skills, originality in the theme... Who is he?
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He's some nameless dude like all the rest of us tiki "artists" who just take inspiration from our predecessors.
the one on the left is a copy of this piece from the Austral Islands:
the one on the right is based on this hawaiian piece:
But it looks like the carver may have referenced something more like this piece for his:
the body on his looks referenced by this actual piece to me
He really didn;t understand the Hawaiian piece's anatomy. He put two eyes on his under where the real eyes are. Kona style carvings are defined by the abstracted eyes and eyelash details, as well as the whole chin, mouth, tongue complex features. He copied the original eyes without knowing what they were, and then thought it needed eyes under his funny double triangle hat. So, he put some people looking eyes under the tikis eyes. That just looks totally wrong to my eyes. Those modern mass producing Asian carvers do that a lot. Or maybe he wanted 4 eyes because he was an artist. Same signature as that Lockness monster piece you posted earlier, I noticed.
That other one up there a post back is a Hawaiian tourist piece based on this piece:
Some roadside/International Market place vendor in Hawaii probably carved that one. There are a lot out there like that. I favor those style ones because they look more authentic than the usual Tongan Hawaiian tiki ones that are so very, very common.
I can't see anything on that pewter piece that would make me think it was tiki. Consider the medium when you are trying to determine if it's tiki. Ask yourself which islands may have had some sort of metal working tradition. The answer to that question pretty much eliminates any of the original Island cultures, as well as their current souviner markets. Just not that much metal work going on in the Pacific. the metal, and no polynesian/pacific motifs pretty much makes it not tiki, at least to my eyes, and in my mind.
Poor pali-ulii, still waiting...
Buzzy Out!
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2049
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-07-21 12:16 am Permalink
[quote]
On 2010-07-20 23:12, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
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He's some nameless dude like all the rest of us tiki "artists" who just take inspiration from our predecessors.
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Yes, I knew that, but have you (or any other carver around) ever copied that austral tiki? I don't think so. That's why this carver is original.
The tiki next to that one is weird, but original and well done still.
The "ribbed tiki" is awesome and original. period.
The pewter tiki could be modern. Not all tikis come from the islands, you know?
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Bay Park Buzzy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2006
Posts: 2793
From: West Bay Park, San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2010-07-21 01:33 am Permalink
I can hear the cuckoo singing
In the cuckoo berry tree
If he says that that's a [tiki]
I suggest that you agree
But he'll find it is not [tiki]
Will not make him bold and brave
Well, at least he'll find it useful
If he ever needs a shave
[Pewter Tiki]
Of Mambrino!
[ This Message was edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2010-07-21 01:37 ]
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amybean
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Nov 22, 2009
Posts: 434
From: Alameda, CA
| Posted: 2010-07-21 07:26 am Permalink
Morning LOLs. Thank you.
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cheekytiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 09, 2004
Posts: 1091
From: The Haole Hut, London, UK
| Posted: 2010-07-21 07:45 am Permalink
Is there any more to the carved "R" on the base, i am sure that has come up on TC before.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2049
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-07-21 08:18 am Permalink
Nothing else cheekytiki. I can tell you I found these tikis in a "Nordic cafe" called Konditori (opened in the 50's by a couple from Denmark) in Zona Rosa... Mexico City's tiki powerplace... So maybe the carver is Nordic too.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11003
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-07-21 10:15 am Permalink
The off-kilter face of the pewter sculpture reminds me of certain Eskimo masks
"This mask shows a distorted human face, with one eye partly closed and wrinkled forehead. Yup'ik Paul John of Nelson Island recalled stories about a strange noise coming from outside the qasgiq (communal men's house). When the people saw the face of the creature that had come to them, it would have a bent face with a sideways mouth."
This unique concept might also have inspired Tiki Carver Mike Gildea in some of his whacky Tikis:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=22886&forum=2&vpost=284481
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GROG
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Jun 21, 2006
Posts: 6666
From: Tujunga
| Posted: 2010-07-21 10:21 am Permalink
The one on the left is a robot, and the one on the right is a Shogun warrior. But then again, maybe not.
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GROG miss Tiki-Kate
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Jungle Trader
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 04, 2003
Posts: 3729
From: Trader's Jungle Outpost, Turlock, Ca.
| Posted: 2010-07-21 6:16 pm Permalink
Can't fool me. The one on the left is Kermit The Frog.
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