Not much action in this section so I thought I would take the opportunity to show another area of my collecting. I collect tribal art from around the world. Everything from Inuit soapstone to African masks.

A couple of years ago I purchased this carving of a Naga headhunter from a Baptist missionary. He had purchased the carving while attending The Hornbill Festival which is held once a year in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. Nagaland is located on the Burmese border and it's many tribes have a history of headhunting. The Naga fought the Japanese, alongside the British in Burma during WW II.

I was told this piece won first prize in the carving contest during the 2007 festival. It is really quite an impressive piece and stands nearly 2 feet tall. (I placed a double A battery beside it to compare size) Everything about it is realistic. The basket he carries on his back is woven the same way as a full sized one. The Tao (machette) tucked in his waistband is accurate. The bell was used to alert his tribe to his arrival. The facial tatoos are accurate, as are the pieces in his ears and the necklace of animal talons. I was told the double barrel shotgun is based on a weapon the British left behind after the war. The damned thing is so accurate that the artist has actually put a small amount of pubic hair on either side of the sash that covers his johnson.

The base he stands on represents the mountains of Nagaland but he can also stand on his own. I would have preferred it without the addition of the sign proclaiming him to be The Brave Warrior of Konyak but the artist must have thought it important enough to take the time to carve.

I have include an old photo of a Naga with facial tatoos.

Anybody else have something weird and/or wonderful to show?

Hi Vlad

Heres some of my Masonic Treasures

and

Thanks for sharing Lummox.

Here's a few more odd little characters.

The chap on the left is an Inuit hunter carved from soapstone. He is from the Canadian Arctic.

The character in the middle is from the Sepik River region of Papua, New Guinea.

The head on the right is a bit of a mystery. I think it is African but I am just guessing. It is very old and was important enough to be kept and repainted many times.

One more item before I retire for the night. This fellow is a Kachina doll from the Hopi Indians of north-east Arizona. They carve these dolls from the roots of the cottonwood tree. Kachina's done by well known carvers and antique pieces can sell for thousands of dollars. This piece is by a young Hopi whose family all carve Kachinas and would be considered a mid-range piece. Most Kachinas are more traditional but I like this young carvers work because it portrays traditional beliefs in a more modern style. Note the Converse running shoes (trainers) and the board shorts. This is a clown Kachina and the object in front of him is a watermelon but this artist also does figures with skateboards and basketballs.

To explain a little better what a Kachina is, here is an explanation from the internet.

Kachinas are the spirit essences of everything in the real world.

Kachina (kuh CHEE nah) dolls are not playtoys, but "messengers" from the spiritual world who bring such things as rain and fertility to the Hopi people. They are friends and visitors; they bring gifts and food; they guide every aspect of a person's existence. They control nature and have the spirit of natural elements such as wind, rain, thunder, lightening, clouds and snow. They could also have the spirits of living things such as plants, animals, or the spirits of ancestoral people who had once lived a good life and return in various Kachina disguises. The Hopi believe Kachinas possess a large amount of wisdom and power, almost like a religious elder.

Hmmmmm... I think I'll stick with the enamel signs myself

Hmmmmm... I think I'll stick with the enamel signs myself

Hey Vlad ! That told young Steve !

That ' Kachina ' doll is the spitting image of well known Collector / dealer B.H  ( Factory Boy !! )  who I hav'nt heard from in a while...............are you out there B ?

Lummox

Hey Vlad

The perspective of that first pic makes the headhunter look about fence height .

I can almost hear old Mabel next door as she parts the curtains and  peers through the upstairs window ,

" Quickly Clive , come here !  That strange young Russian chap next door is having another one of his parties . They're all half naked again . I shouldn't have to look at that ! "

Relics

Yes Al, please post a photo of Victorian Father's masks. He sounds like my kind of collector, but be warned you might scare of some of the other members. I know of one Yorkshire lad who wants no part of these weird foreign items and had to return to the safety and familiarity of the enamels section.

Vlad

Hi Al

Re masonic certs.

Can be very detailed and sometimes ( RAOB ) colourful but of little value, unless before about 1890

Lummox

Here's one for you Relics. An Aboriginee didgeridoo and a boomerang held by Bruce the dog. The dog is in the picture because his name is Bruce. Anyone remember the Monty Python Bruce sketch?

I'm not sure if SteveTheTyke will venture down here again from the enamel forum but this is for him.

At the risk of thoroughly convincing the patrons of the AA forums that I am a little odd I am going to keep plugging away at this subject.

This is an Inuit (Eskimo) carving of a drum dancer. The Inuit live in a very sparse environment and their only real musical instrument is a drum made from stretched animal hide. This simple drum was both entertainment and a way to converse with the spirit world. There wasn't a lot of material available to them for carving so they used things such as caribou antler, stone, whalebone, ivory from walrus and narwhale, and in the case of this carving the leg bone of a polar bear. Carving a bone or an antler takes skill because the carver has to incorporate their vision into the form of the medium.

Take it or leave it but please leave any snide comments aside.