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Is This The Elusive Cobra's Fang Mug? |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2010-05-05 01:28 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2010-05-04 23:00, Babalu wrote:
Thanks Big Bro! Glad to see that you made it back home safe and clear of that volcano's vengeance. I have been searching for pacific inspired snake designs lately (there isn't much out there)...I couldn't help but notice this terrific painting(?) on your wall to the left of your home bar that you posted on another thread...is this a contemporary work? What is it's origin?
This darn Cobra design has reared it head on me this past month...I explained more on my crafts thread here -
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=24647&forum=18&start=1110&1120
Yet another prototype on this design...
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Nice! I am glad that you posted, Babs, cause I saw something in a bar window in Prague and photographed it for you:
I thought this was a nice variation on the theme. I don't think you can build it into the mug design, but as a sculptor I think you'd appreciate it. 
The animal in the storyboard painting is an eel, the illustrations are telling the myth of Hina and the Eel:
"According to a legend from Tahiti, the first coconut came from the head of an eel named Tuna. When the moon goddess Hina fell in love with the eel, her brother, Maui, killed it and told her to plant the head in the ground. However, Hina left the head beside a stream and forgot about it. When she remembered Maui's instructions and returned to search for the head, she found that it had grown into a coconut tree."
You can see the piece hanging in situ at The Tikis on page 109 of the BOT.
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-05-05 21:26 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-05-05 10:35 pm Permalink
I usually try not to stray too much from a thread's subject matter, but to keep this board interesting, I sometimes take the opportunity to elaborate on a subject that might not come up otherwise, so I beg Babalu's forgiveness for this side track:
I first saw and photographed this Hina Storyboard in 1993 during my first expedition to The Tikis:
I was glad I could buy it off Danny Balsz the next year, I loved the naive/psychedelic style. Sort of an early Ken Ruzic:
This must have been done in the late 60s...ahead of its time and the Tiki revival!
I never found out who painted it.
Here is the story sequence:
Hina falls in love with the eel
Maui finds out and catches him
Maui gets stark-raving mad and kills the eel
The eels head grows roots and sprouts the first coconut tree!
Now there is a twist to the story: This is not a singular piece! A couple of years later, during a holiday in Waikiki, I stumbled on a neighborhood Tiki Bar...don't ask me where it was, somewhere downtown, and behind the bar hung a painting just like it! It was longer than mine, and I don't remember if it varied much, but it was the same story, by the same artist!
Now I THINK this place was called the "South Seas" --but it was NOT the South Seas that you used to see coming in from the airport:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=36241&forum=2
It was a small dive...BUT it was filled with some of the most exquisite tourist carvings: Marquesan war clubs and Tahitian Tikis and things, like I had only seen at the Hawaiian Hut --which was also a Spencecliff restaurant. Spencecliff had some direct line on quality carvings from Tahiti, you just don't see that kind of stuff anymore nowadays.
In retrospect I am thinking that this place had taken over the name and decor from the above "South Seas" Restaurant after that location closed. Next time I went looking for it I could not find it, and never found anything else about it --or saw another version of that Hina painting again. Maybe Phil Roberts knows something about that "South Seas" reincarnation?
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2010-05-06 12:10 am Permalink
Sven - another exact copy of that Hina wall hanging in the same size (but on cloth) sold on eBay in November for $50. The artist was named as "Guyot" in the auction title, but unfortunately, the link is long dead and I didn't save the auction text or photos. Looks like the image was produced in several formats.
Sabu
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Babalu
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Nov 19, 2006
Posts: 2498
From: Lemon Grove
| Posted: 2010-05-06 08:44 am Permalink
Thanks for taking that shot for me in Prague Big Bro...it's kind of a haunting image, but nicely done. That Hina and the eel painting is very cool...my eye was drawn to it right away in that picture you posted of your living room. I like the way the landscape (the water and the mountains) and the figures alternate colors as the paintings story moves from left to right. I also like the way the image of the sun breaks the square of the border frame and continues on. Seeing an eel or a sea snake in a Polynesian design makes more since to me...this kinda brings up another topic which I haven't seen anybody talk about yet - the design of this Islander Cobra Fang Mug...
Though this Islander Cobra Fang Mug's design is very iconic in Polynesian Pop, it is definitely a cross over design. What's interesting to me is that this design is very classic of something Old World European / Art Nouveau. I mean, yes, you've got cross over designs from Africa and other areas of the world, and they seem to fit 'design wise' a little better in the PolyPop spectrum, but this cobra design really comes out of left field as a player. As far as I know right now, this might be the only Art Nouveau cross over image associated with Polynesian Pop? In my searches for pictures of Cobras to use as reference, I've learned a little about them. For one, they seems to be present in every corner of New Guinea, but nadda anywhere else in the rest of the Pacific island chain. Anyway, here are a just 'few' examples (there are many, many more)of some really fine snake image Art Nouveau craftsmanship...
Now this snake drum below is definitely PNG in style...it could, should, and will be made into a mug design at some point
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-05-06 10:33 am Permalink
Sabu, thanks for your watchful eye, now we have a name. 50.- bucks, darn! The name sounds French, so maybe the artist is from Tahiti, also. Apparently he did like Leeteg, who once he had a successful design, repeated it. One could say he stuck to his story (board)! So: WHERE are our resident Tahitian Tiki agents to look into this!?
Babalu: Man, Art Nouveaux, don't get me started: Just returning from Prague, THE city of Art Nouveaux architecture, my mind is still blown. I must have taken over 1000 photos. For anyone who appreciates urban archeology and architectural detail, this city is it. I still don't know where to begin to post about it...
Here is ONE shot, which relates to the snake theme:
The tip of a flagpole on the left shows a dragon that is being attacked by a snake (on the right: a frog rain gutter catch)
One more thing about the story board: This Oceanic art form from Palau was an inspiration to Die Bruecke member Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and was used on several of Trader Vic's Tiki temples. I think its a concept that deserves further exploration by our community of talented Tiki artists!
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bongofury
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: 1473
From: Ventura County
| Posted: 2010-05-06 5:02 pm Permalink
Love the details on those buildings. In Brazil the locals referred to any venomous snake as a "cobra".
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2010-05-09 12:18 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2010-05-04 23:00, Babalu wrote:
I have been searching for Pacific inspired snake designs lately...
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Rick, from the Bower Museum;
"Mask (Tatanua) New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The people of New Ireland are known for their elaborate funeral rituals called Malagan ceremonies, in which highly detailed masks are worn. the mask represents the tatanua, the most important of a person's three souls which resides in the head - an important part of one's being for engaging in both the spiritual dimension and the world of daily life"
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Hawaiian shirt
Member
Joined: May 12, 2010
Posts: 6
From: usa
| Posted: 2010-05-12 06:22 am Permalink
I thought I had seen all of these. I am blown away!
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Tattoo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 24, 2005
Posts: 151
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2010-05-12 07:15 am Permalink
And just like that....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370363411515#ht_566wt_1167
(not mine nor was I a bidder)
It's the same type as the Pa'akiki one but looks to be a later casting. Pretty cool!
[ This Message was edited by: Tattoo 2010-05-12 07:15 ]
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2010-05-12 07:30 am Permalink
"vase - stein?" thingee. I'll bet they were SHOCKED when it sold for almost $400! 
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Babalu
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Nov 19, 2006
Posts: 2498
From: Lemon Grove
| Posted: 2010-05-12 09:24 am Permalink
Ha! I knew that was going to happen I wonder what it would have sold for if it would have been listed (key words) along with other tiki mugs? Did a TC'er get it?
On another note: these are my latest 3 attempts - they fired out fine this time...trust, they will go for a hell-of-a lot less $$ -
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2010-05-12 09:40 am Permalink
This thread is awesome! Bigbro, thanks for your story about that eel painting! Very fine urban archeological art gonzo journalism report!
_________________
  ¡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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Hearn
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Jan 30, 2008
Posts: 67
From: Washington DC
| Posted: 2012-11-05 07:18 am Permalink
Not my listing...but I can't wait to see how ridiculously high these go.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190748666696?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
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SandraDee
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 576 | Posted: 2012-11-05 08:07 am Permalink
Awesome!
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Beachbumz
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Jan 09, 2008
Posts: 991
From: 21°/156° MAUI
| Posted: 2012-11-08 10:33 pm Permalink
I thought I'd post just a couple more pics of this mug while I see them still..
These sold today on eBay for 727.00 for Four...
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