According to the Cabinet of Curiosities inventory list, this Tiki was presented to the Rev Mordecai Treddle, a missionary from a very strict sect, the Select Peoples of the Exclusive Brethren.
He had been sent to spread the gospel in Polynesia but by a serious of misfortunes, mostly of his own making, he was shipwrecked on Niue Island, along with his harmonium. That he was given this Tiki is evidence of the regard in which he was held by the island’s inhabitants. That he was the father of so many children, by so many wives, is perhaps evidence of the Tiki’s mystical properties.
This Tiki was sculpted by Ian Mitchell in the Somerset studios of Bernard Pearson, formerly of Clarecraft. It stands 160mm high, and is 90mm wide. The Tiki has been made from Crystacast, a fine-art casting material, and has been hand-painted and finished.
