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Tiki Central / Collecting Tiki

The show me your Witco thread.

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Savage Sissy found this today at a junk shop, looks like witco and can see some resemblance to other parts of the cuts but not sure what it was? has a few nail holes in the back an a hook to hang it on now. Any ideas?


Cool piece Bood. I'm sure someone out there can pin it down as to if it's a Witco or not. Sounds like if it is a Witco it may have been attached to a larger piece.

Today...

The sail and boat are different than the others I have seen posted...

Is mine considered an "outrigger"? How many different styles were there?

Thanks,

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-09-19 15:56 ]

yours is a viking ship. see the shields? drawer pulls are used on the other one.

On 2008-09-19 16:37, TIKI DAVID wrote:
yours is a viking ship. see the shields? drawer pulls are used on the other one.

I suppose you are correct, however the sails are what threw me?? Also, the bow isn't as pronounced as the viking ships I have seen.

Anyone else?

PTD

I would agree with Tiki David. The sheilds on the side are what give it away as a viking vessel. Plus with all the witco Tiki David has I would go with his instinct......great find!

today...

CJ

Here's is my first piece for our soon to be in the far future witco art filled bedroom....

Hi Coco Joe,

That an awesome set. Did you re-frame that or is the the original framing?

CJ

Aloha my fellow TC. I actually bought these on ebay from some person in Florida. I'm assuming by the worn on the frame (yet still very clean) it's original. Thanks for saying they look nice!

PS..FedEx just delivered a tiki farm mug at frikin 11pm. I didn't know FedEx even worked that late!

T

Here's some of my witco......


My wife found this one for me at the columbus flea market, one of my favorites!

I got these stools from a weirdo in south jersey....parts of southern new jersey are very strange! I think it might be the water.......

This beauty was a gift from a friend after I dreaded his hair back in the day...

I have two of these masks that I got from ebay, one is on the front of my homemade tiki bar/computer stand and one is on my wall in the tiki/playroom....

I got the king from another fleamarket here in Jersey, it looks like witco but I'm actually not positive.....still cool!

and I got this one from craigslist, it was listed as an "african" table....I often find vendors at the flea markets confusing polynesian carvings with those made in africa and elsewhere.

In these parts Witco is seldom found... but today I found the lion found in TIKI MODERN on page 187. It is without the leopard skin frame back piece. The lion is about four feet long, I'd say. Not tiki enough for me, so I didn't buy it. But if it interests one of you, the shop is:

Iron Lace Antiques, 269-641-2171, [email protected] The shop is on the Michigan/Indiana line.

Oh, and he currently has $40 on it. And if you want me to purchase it for you, pm me.

TD

my first WITCO on 'blue velvet'

TD

another angle

TD

another version of the globe,in front of an 'uncarved' WITCO bar that someone allong the way covered the red fabric with mirrors


"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD

[ Edited by: TIKI DAVID 2008-10-09 13:23 ]

T

OK, again I take crappy photos. :o But these are the best ones out of my 99 takes. :lol:

It's 16" high X 6" width X 6" deep. Now, tell me if it's Witco. :D :D :D
I found this yesterday, with about a pound of dusty filth on it, cocoons (spider?). It sort of looks like the one on page 95, bottom row center of Svens Tiki Modern book. But I noticed that the mouth is rounded on mine, and the one in his photo is open slotted and straight across.

What do you think Sven, Bosko, anyone? I actually saw a few more tikis and I'm kicking myself in the ass today because I didn't go back and get them..

Maybe someone else should go rescue his friends... "if others only knew where they could be found?"
HMMMM HMMM?

T

sneakyjack, mummmmmmmmms the word.. I'm a selfish bitch. :lol: It's hard to track down anything tiki up here in Butt Fa Ville. So I'm going back as soon as I can. :D And next time I'm out there in the boonies, I'm making sure I have some money on me... :D So does anyone out there have some to spare? :lol:

Mai bien sur, mon ami, zis is a Vitco, certainment. Someone once said: "If it ain't pretty, it's a Witco", so there you are. There also is the famous quote "What we have here, is a failure to .....depict a Ku god". Don't know who said that, but it stuck with me. :D

Not to be too redundant (but I was asked) as Sven said it is a Witco, obviously not carved from their regular swamp cedar (but cedar none the less) I think these came later on but don't quote me on that.
Nice find,

Bosko

T

Mai bien sur, mon ami, zis is a Vitco, certainment. Someone once said: "If it ain't pretty, it's a Witco", so there you are. There also is the famous quote "What we have here, is a failure to .....depict a Ku god". Don't know who said that, but it stuck with me.

OK, Sven, translation please for that first line.. Thanks Sven, I think? :lol:

Not to be too redundant (but I was asked) as Sven said it is a Witco, obviously not carved from their regular swamp cedar (but cedar none the less) I think these came later on but don't quote me on that.
Nice find,

Bosko, I just had to ask the two top guys what they thought.. This is my first piece and I thought once or twice before I had a great find on something only to find out it was either a repro or a fake. But I love this one.. And what do they look like if they're made out of swamp cedar? :-?

Thanks again :D :D

[ Edited by: tikipaka 2008-10-13 16:09 ]

what do they look like if they're made out of swamp cedar?

wider grain.

N

On 2008-10-12 17:46, tikipaka wrote:
OK, again I take crappy photos. :o But these are the best ones out of my 99 takes. :lol:

Witco, smitco. That's some nice Arts & Crafts furniture.

T

i bought this bar afew weeks ago from a friend she to;d me that it had been purchases for her father in the 60's. it is old u can tell that how i can not any stamp or markings saying who what or where. can any one help me ID THIS BAR AND STOOLS PLEASE THE BAR I BELIEVE IS MADE OF A SOLID WOOD I THINK IT IS PINE.

K

Hey tywood, it is a Witco bar made of cedar. Called the "Rio Grande Bar" and stools.

T

thank you for the conformation on my bar. would u happen to know how or where i could figure out how much my bar is worth? I am wanting to sell it but have no idea how much i should ask for it

T

bought this bar afew weeks ago from a friend she to;d me that it had been purchases for her father in the 60's. it is old u can tell that how i can not any stamp or markings saying who what or where. can any one help me ID THIS BAR AND STOOLS PLEASE THE BAR I BELIEVE IS MADE OF A SOLID WOOD I THINK IT IS PINE.
also how much it may be worth

T

Witco, smitco. That's some nice Arts & Crafts furniture.

Thanks Naneki, you noticed. Your just like me, I check out every nook & cranny in a photo to see it all. :lol: We got that entire dinning room set at a yard sale about 4 miles from our house. Signed Stickley Brothers, Quaint Furnishing Co.. :D :D The entire set was purchased for $600. We were the first people at the sale that morning and we must have spent at least $1000. total for every thing we picked up. Dave had to run to the ATM machines all over because at the time we had a limit on how much you could withdraw at one time. :D :D It was funny though, we knew this antique dealer who just about ran up to the stack of stuff we had piled up to check it out and when he was told it had already been sold, he looked up saw us and walked over and whispered in my ear, "you have got to be kidding". :D :D Just love those great finds.. Just about everything in our home was picked up a a yard sale, thrift store, flea market.

[ Edited by: tikipaka 2008-10-16 15:57 ]

I wanted to post some pics of this great Witco tiki bar I scored last weekend off craigslist for $75 bucs with the 4 tiki stools too! It's just missing the top! Sven, was there really only 15 of these ever made? I found it pictured in Tiki Modern on page 239. The funny thing about this bar is the story behind it......
I saw another one last month listed on craigslist for $2000 bucs!?! I emailed the guy about it but he was kinda mean and was firm on the price. Needless to say I didn't have an extra 2 grand to spend on it but I would still check every morning on to see if it was still listed, I mean who else was going to buy it?! Well, one morning it was gone, not listed so I emailed the seller and he emailed me back.....SOLD! Damn, I thought, I'll never find another one. I was bummed out! Later that same day I was checking the surrounding area on Craigslist for anything Tiki and that's when I came across a listing for a " Tiki bar with four stools with leopard print seat covers....$75" (No Photo) Leopard print seat covers............Witco!!! I emailed the seller who was out in the middle of Penn. to send me some pics. She didn't have a camera but described it as a "dark wood tiki bar with tiki's on the front and side with 4 square shaped tiki stools with old animal pattern seat covers". I was sold but still didn't think it would be the same bar! After several hours of driving into the middle of nowhere I finally found the old farm house with the barn in the back and the lady with no camera who just happened to have a Witco treasure buried behind a pile of crap! There it was, the same damn Witco Tiki bar for $75 bucs! I still can't believe it!




Wow, Tikinomad, wow!

K
kiara posted on Sat, Oct 18, 2008 4:02 PM

You've climbed the mt. Everest of scores.
That's the one we all want!Congrats!

[ Edited by: kiara 2008-10-18 16:03 ]

What a great find! A little TLC and it will be a happy Witco. Use it well.

Best
Mark

What a mind blowingly cool bar! Great job on tracking it down. I bet that you are glad (for the first time!) that you didn't have the extra two thousand dollars!

Yeah, sure. A Witco "Tahiti" Bar found in the middle of nowhere in a BARN, for SEVENTYFIVE bucks. Ha haaa, that is soo the collector's wet dream, you don't think we're gonna fall for that! ..... :wink: :lol:

No but seriously, congrats, Tim. Finds like this make me so happy, especially when they happen to such a dedicated urban archeologist like you! I immediately had to try to get shots of my bar top, in case you wanted to reproduce it.

This was not easy because the bar is used as a nonfunctional display case and is full o' crap!:

The right side was easier to get to:

This shows you how far really the lip extends from the base:

Which got me thinking: When my bar was delivered, the top was detached, and the bar itself was covered with a plain, uncarved board on which I screwed the top onto, which made the bar MUCH wider.

Now I went outside to try to get a shot of the back of the bar:

Notice the trim?:

...and check out your bar top:

I bet yours doesn't have that trim in the back anymore! Here is my theory why: When whoever bought the bar set it up at home, they realized that the top made the bar too wide for the space it was supposed to go in, and so they decided to not use the top, and rather use the back trim to create a fitting bar top! I bet the original top got discarded years before the bar was put out of service.

But clearly, in whatever condition, this IS the Witco deal of the century. The production number of 15 was mentioned by Ken who got it from Bill himself, so now there are 13 left out there still to find, folks. :)

Correction: 12 left! Forgot the one that you saw being sold for 2 grand on Craigslist earlier.

great find! you said it was in a barn. did you look in the rafters and every nook and cranny for the top? i'll bet it was there some where.

the ad said "75.00 or best offer", did you try to get it lower?
i know mostly it is the thrill of the 'HUNT',but sometimes there is a liitle fun in the KILL.

Maybe it is just me, but $75 seems almost like taking advantage of the seller. When I read the price and saw the pictures, my first reaction was that I would have given the seller a little bit more then the asking price.

That's why I love Tiki Central: It incorporates the whole spectrum of the collector's mentality! :)

On 2008-10-19 09:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
That's why I love Tiki Central: It incorporates the whole spectrum of the collector's mentality! :)

Yes, it does.

B

On 2008-10-19 09:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
That's why I love Tiki Central: It incorporates the whole spectrum of the collector's mentality! :)

Sven,
Are you suggesting we are MENTAL!?!

Great score Tikinomad!

-Duke


Check out Tiki Quest at http://www.pegboardchicago.com/TCintro.html
Tiki Central members get a discount and a special premium!

[ Edited by: boutiki 2008-10-19 13:36 ]

Thanks guys! To be honest, I'm still recovering from the find. Those pieces do go on the back Sven but I think the original bar top is long gone, thanks for the cool pic's of your bar! I love the way it is displayed! I guess I should have offered the seller more sparklegem, but I was in shock when I actually saw it! Plus I'm so broke that I really could not offer much more anyway! Oh well, she was happy and I was fired up so it was a win/win situation. I would feel bad if my intentions were to resell it and make a killing but then again I believe in Karma and if that was so I don't think fate would have handed me a gem like that if my intentions were so......ma halo!

Tikinomad,

I did not mean to imply that you should have offered more. I just thought that it would be cruel to go for the kill.

I was also thinking, when reading of your good luck, that you must have very good Karma. I am so glad that that is the case! Enjoy your amazing bar! It sounds like quite the adventure heading off to parts unknown, with out a picture and finding that unbelievable set!! Great job, Tikinomad!

"I did not mean to imply that you should have offered more. I just thought that it would be cruel to go for the kill."

BULL SHIT. and you know it. are you going to tell me you would not go to a sale that read 75.00 dollars or best offer and not try to get it for less?

Now now now, language. That's what she said, didn't she? Not everyone here approaches collecting from a dealer's mentality. And Tikinomad lies right between the two extremes ....like most of us, I would assume.

Thanks dude, no worries!
Remember, according to Sven there is still 12 more to find so good luck guys!

"going for the kill" is just a figure of speech that go's along with the term "thrill of the hunt". all in fun ,part of the game .
not meant to be "cruel"

And here is the Witco pin up of the month, from 1972, the TAHITI BAR! :

(..and with it, your painted Ubangi Planter, David)

I am unhappy how it got reproduced in Tiki Modern (p.239), it's too desaturated. THIS is how the photo really looked. Also note the smaller version of it on page 8 of Tiki Modern.

WOW!

That's super sexy.
Imagine living in that room, if you were in there and went outside, the outdoors would seem dull and colorless.

Thanks for pic!
Mark

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