 |
Polynesian/Oceanic Culture...Keeping it REAL(image heavy) |
Tom Slick
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 26, 2005
Posts: 1083
From: The Beaches of South Bay, SoCal
|  Posted: 2007-03-28 09:04 am Permalink
I found this auction on ebay for a book. What startled me was the selling price. over $500 for a book with 136 or so pages. I decided to start this topic as not to derail other topics.Here's what was said about the book from the sellers point of view:
"VERY rare original copy of the epic work on Polynesian Art. Profusely illustrated with 136 full page plates of artifacts from Hawaii, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Marquesas Islands, Australs, Cooks, Easter Island etc. Issued by the Polynesian Society in 1943, it is rarely seen on the market, especially such an important copy as this that belonged to the famous Peabody Museum Anthropologist and author of note Dr. Donald Stanley Marshall. This copy is in excellent condition and should attract considerable attention world wide! Page count in total is 222 pages with full provenance of each object illustrated along with size etc. The Oldman collection was eventually sold by Mr. Oldman to the New Zealand Government and is the finest collection of Polynesian Objects ever formed so if you have an interest in Polynesian Art then this is a must have. As with all of our auctions this rare volume is put up without any reserve what so ever so good luck."
Heres the link to the auction, which will die in 90 days.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290086240884&rd=1&rd=1
I am adding the pics from the auction as well, to document this topic as well as ensure future readers to be able to see the images...
To the artists and contributors of TC...I would applaud anyones efforts to keep this topic ON TOPIC, and always come back here to discuss relevant topics such as artistic styles vs. Traditional/Original/South Pacific/Oceanic arts. Hope you enjoy!
|
teaKEY
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 09, 2004
Posts: 3663
From: The thumb !
| Posted: 2007-03-28 09:55 am Permalink
Wow, I have a couple of books, one being Meyer's, and they all have the same stuff from book to book. These are new variations on other items I've seen. Very nice stuff. Those spears are just evil intentions waiting to happen. Love them. BK should try one like that. Look at that tip.
_________________
 20+10 =30yo
|
pappythesailor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 1563
From: Mass.
| Posted: 2007-03-28 10:00 am Permalink
Wow! BK, you need that thing --only $500!
|
Lake Surfer
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 21, 2002
Posts: 3308
From: Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: 2007-03-28 11:28 am Permalink
Held that book and many more like it in my hands in January... in the Arts and Humanities room in my public library...
Search it out, librarys are great places!
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2007-03-28 11:40 am Permalink
Thank you, Tom. I like posts with IMAGES! And here are many I have not seen before. This partially explains the high price:
A.) Try to find art books that deal solely with POLYNESIAN art, and you will notice that most Oceanic Art books (like 85%), current and vintage, have a mixture of Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian art in them, with the large part being Melanesian. This is because there is such a profusion of Papua New Guinea objects out there in comparison to what the missionaries allowed to survive from Polynesia. So to find such a book, with such large illustrations, is rare. I bet many Museum libraries don't even have this one.
B.) This collection is now owned by the New Zealand Museum. But how much is on display? Very little, I am certain. Museums all over the world have large stockpiles of ancient art in their storage that they do not have the budget to display. So for scholars, this is a rare chance to catch a glimpse of stuff stored away forever in that Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse.
But books like these should not only be of interest to academic scholars (this is why you posted it), but to Tiki artists everywhere. And not only to BK, our fine premier traditionalist, but to freestyle Tiki makers too. As I mourned in my post in the Collecting Tiki/VLV mug thread, the Tiki revival has been going in circles artistically, because too few new artists seem to bother to study the large variety of authentic Polynesian and Oceanic objects and styles that are out there in Oceanic Art books and museums. But with no connection to the original culture, a pop version of that culture becomes meaningless.
This research does nor have to be done with such a high price tag as above, but does require a little effort.
|
Paipo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 22, 2006
Posts: 1886
From: Aotearoa / NZ
| Posted: 2007-03-28 2:16 pm Permalink
I was pretty interested to see this thread as the Oldman collection is a pet subject of mine. Both editions (Polynesian and Maori) of the catalogue were reprinted here in NZ a couple of years ago by the Polynesian Society - I think they cost me about 35 bucks (NZ) each:
I told BK about these a while back.
Quote:
|
On 2007-03-28 11:40, bigbrotiki wrote:
B.) This collection is now owned by the New Zealand Museum. But how much is on display? Very little, I am certain. Museums all over the world have large stockpiles of ancient art in their storage that they do not have the budget to display. So for scholars, this is a rare chance to catch a glimpse of stuff stored away forever in that Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse.
|
|
Not just one museum - four regional museums carved up the bulk of the collection: Te Papa (Wellington - then known as the Dominion Museum), Auckland, Otago and Canterbury. Duplicate items were shared out between these museums and smaller regional museums against Oldman's wishes, who wanted all examples of a type to be available to scholars in one location.
Most of these museums have extensive Pacific wings where they have many of their Oldman pieces on display, with one notable exception - Canterbury Museum, the closest to where I live! They had first pick of Hawaiian and Easter Island pieces and have some of the finest and rarest items in the world, but no dedicated Pacific Gallery in which to show them. I am constantly amazed when looking through my books to see how many spectacular pieces are in Christchurch, yet I have never seen them! I am working towards a visit to see some of these treasures "from the vault".
_________________
myspace
[ This Message was edited by: Paipo 2007-03-28 14:18 ]
|
little lost tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2006
Posts: 7459
From: Orange,CA-right near the Circle!
| Posted: 2007-03-28 2:32 pm Permalink
Can I borrow 500 bucks from anyone here? 
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2007-03-28 2:41 pm Permalink
Aaah, I love TC, with its Tiki agents! Great local info, Paipo, thanks. Are those reprints still available?
|
Paipo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 22, 2006
Posts: 1886
From: Aotearoa / NZ
| Posted: 2007-03-28 2:53 pm Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2007-03-28 14:41, bigbrotiki wrote:
Are those reprints still available?
|
|
I got them through this page bigbro - there is an email address right down at the bottom.
_________________
|
Sneakytiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 31, 2003
Posts: 1795
From: Boise, Idaho
| Posted: 2007-03-28 5:54 pm Permalink
That looks like a great book. I really enjoyed the pictures of some of the pieces next to their sennit bags and containers. Many of these pieces would be wrapped in sennit fiber nearly all the time and thus unviewable in their native cultures. The act of the priest wrapping the object in sennit, barkcloth and other materials while repeating prayers charged the objects with mana.
|
bongofury
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: 1473
From: Ventura County
| Posted: 2007-03-28 6:34 pm Permalink
The books are still available. I bought mine a while back through Amazon and Book Finder.
|
Howland
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 30, 2006
Posts: 749
From: Folly Beach, SC--'Follynesia'
| Posted: 2007-03-28 7:33 pm Permalink
Nice---if you posted this in 'Tiki Carving', as an inspirational guide, you may see a significant surge in sales of these books--- mine is on the way! Thanks guys!
_________________
http://www.facebook.com/brad.howland1?ref=name
[url[https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jungalero-Lounge/112770948583[/url]
The Curse of Howland Island
|
VampiressRN
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 5085
From: Sin City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2007-03-28 8:34 pm Permalink
Thanks for posting the pics...what a great book. I agree about posting in the carving forum...fabulous resource for artists. Only way it could have been better is if the pictures were in color...hey that could be a project for someone.
_________________
 "Oh waiter, another cocktail please!!!"
|
TikiSan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 29, 2003
Posts: 246
From: O.C., SoCal
| Posted: 2007-03-29 12:26 pm Permalink
Are all the photographs in the reprint books black and white?
|
Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2007-03-29 1:33 pm Permalink
These are the coolest swizzle sticks I have ever seen. Sorry, I had to side track a little bit...
Seeing these pieces still wrapped up, in person would just send shivers up my spine.
_________________
Mai-Kai Memories Series Custom ceramic mugs!
|
