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Share your Papua New Guinea pieces |
Humuhumu
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 22, 2002
Posts: 3536
From: San Francisco
|  Posted: 2009-11-14 12:16 am Permalink
(Apologies if I missed an extant thread that covers this territory.)
Papua New Guinea pieces are some of my favorite Oceanic Art, and inspired some of the best Polynesian Pop graphic design of the '50s and '60s (especially Lyle Wheeler's stuff for Aloha Jhoe's & South Pacific). I've always been enchanted by the great pieces my friends have scored over the years, and recently I finally got some of my own.
As you probably heard, the owner of the Palo Alto Trader Vic's passed away recently after a long illness. He also owned an art gallery near my work in Menlo Park that had many old PNG pieces on offer. The pieces were very cool, and were ones he'd often personally collected on trips there over many decades of loving PNG art. But they were priced well out of the range of what I could afford, so it was only window shopping for me.
His wife (now widow) doesn't groove quite so much on the PNG stuff, preferring mainland Asian art instead. Once he passed on, she cleared out the inventory. 70% off. Whoa. Nelly.
I've wanted one of these for so, so long. It's a gope board. There are a few of them at the Palo Alto Trader Vic's. They're just so cheerful. Until you consider that their purpose was to enlist your ancestors to torment your enemies. But maybe they tormented with irrepressible cheer! Take that!
This is a canoe prow. It has birds on it. And black dye that is getting everywhere.
This sort of has to be seen in person to really get all the detail. I'm going to have to rig up some sort of special light on it in the bar, maybe. It's a yipwon/wanleg/kamangabi, depending on who you're talking to.
This is a... uh... a... well, it's a bird, standing on some skulls, which are sitting on a stool that has actual feet for feet. Yeah, I don't get it either. But it reminds me of Tiki tOny.
So, that's what I've got! I'm going to try to hold my PNG acquisitions to just this stuff, because I want to keep the bar balanced, and a little PNG goes a long ways. But boy howdy, do I love it.
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Critiki - Ooga-Mooga - Humu Kon Tiki
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Babalu
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 19, 2006
Posts: 2501
From: Lemon Grove
| Posted: 2009-11-14 07:14 am Permalink
I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favorite threads.
Wonderful pieces Humu....absolutely, wonderful! Congratulations.
Thank you for sharing these.
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Bay Park Buzzy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2006
Posts: 2777
From: West Bay Park, San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-15 5:25 pm Permalink
I have a few PNG items laying around:
A food/nut mortar smasing set
You put food or nuts on these guys heads and smash it up with the other long piece
A handheld mask and a hook piece
A gable carving and a dancer figure holding a mwei mask
Storyboard and mask
4' tall Yipwan
My favorite piece, a walking stick:
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[ This Message was edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2009-11-15 17:28 ]
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GROG
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Jun 21, 2006
Posts: 6623
From: Tujunga
| Posted: 2009-11-15 6:01 pm Permalink
That walking stick is nice.
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Humuhumu
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 22, 2002
Posts: 3536
From: San Francisco
| Posted: 2009-11-15 7:57 pm Permalink
Ooooooh, amazing stuff, Buzzy. That walking stick has so much going on, it's lovely. Those nut mortar fellows are really cool, too, I haven't seen anything like that before.
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Critiki - Ooga-Mooga - Humu Kon Tiki
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TIKIVILLE
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Posts: 635
From: Edmonton Alberta Canada
| Posted: 2009-11-16 12:21 pm Permalink
here are the few that I have managed to get my hands on ,
Admittedly I know jack about em but I dig the way they look and appreciate the amount of time they took to finish.
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kahalakruzer
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 29, 2008
Posts: 309
From: Dana Point! California
| Posted: 2009-11-16 5:57 pm Permalink
Tikiville, I love that last figure. Man I wish I had some cool PNG art to post!
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dogbytes
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 2241
From: seattle, wa
| Posted: 2009-11-18 3:03 pm Permalink
i'm pretty sure these are PNG pieces:
from the Bellevue Traer Vics
i love the details on the feet, hands & arms
from this this sale
Trader Vics Bellevue
from anthropologist's sale
from Sophista-tiki
Shield from Trader Vics Bellevue
purchased from the director of the Burke Musuem in Seattle
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little lost tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2006
Posts: 7530
From: Orange,CA-right near the Circle!
| Posted: 2009-11-18 4:04 pm Permalink
Saw these at Elicia's home during our Seattle jaunt..
That Big Guy Downstairs is AMAZING!!!!
Still trying to figger out a way to steal that one....
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Babalu
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 19, 2006
Posts: 2501
From: Lemon Grove
| Posted: 2009-11-18 4:36 pm Permalink
Buzzy, what do you want to trade for the cane :-)
Dogbytes, I am in "LOVE" with you collection...this is only the second time I have seen an animal figure in the mouth of one of these ancestral figures, and I've been doing a lot of reseach lately on PNG styles. Look at those carved feet! And your Asmat shield is just plain mouth watering...TOTAL YUM!
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Tiki-Kate
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 21, 2003
Posts: 1700
From: Yucaipa, CA
| Posted: 2009-11-23 6:51 pm Permalink
I don't have many authentic pieces. I really do prefer the Poly Pop version of PNG art.
I'd like to replace the missing shells around the eyes and under the chin on this mask.
There used to be a guy who sold PNG souvenirs at one of the SoCal flea markets. I bought these from him.
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SilverLine
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 02, 2004
Posts: 625
From: Kansas City
| Posted: 2009-11-23 8:16 pm Permalink
MORE! MORE! MORE!!
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10994
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-11-24 11:42 am Permalink
I actually don't have much PNG stuff, I don't have the room and it's too "authentic" for me, I like more fake Oceania. But this Asmat shield appealed to me:
Not only because it was already mounted on a gallery stand (for that"Primitve Art Gallery" look):
...but because it was made into a lamp :
...which creates a nice orange glow behind the piece:
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-11-24 11:47 ]
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Tahitiki
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Jun 11, 2004
Posts: 324
From: San Jose
| Posted: 2009-11-24 5:23 pm Permalink
Found this one at the goodwill a while back.
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Tahitiki
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TIKIVILLE
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Posts: 635
From: Edmonton Alberta Canada
| Posted: 2009-12-07 2:41 pm Permalink
Just got this Ebay find hung up !
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