Antique Oceania Pacific Islander Carved Basalt Stone 17" Aumakua Tiki God Statue

Description

Antique Oceania Pacific Islander Carved Basalt Stone 17" Aumakua Tiki God Statue
Up for sale is a rare and terrific antique or perhaps even archaic carved basalt stone statue from the Pacific Islands.  This was given to me years ago by a friend who had a huge collection of Pacific Islander artifacts.  He told me the name of the island that it came from but it was one I had never heard of before.  I didn't write it down and now he's passed away and I've forgotten.  I have done a lot of searches and can't find another carving like this.  It has a unique rectangle inset hole with curved corners in the center of his chest.  It must have been used to hold something.  My guess is that perhaps this was used to hold something for a ceremony that involved fire because there is black coloring on stomach and arms that looks like it might have been exposed to flames--just a guess.  I took it to Bonham's and Butterfield's and they were very intrigued but the person there hadn't seen anything like it and was unable to identify it.  The hands have carved fingers.  He's kneeling.  This is 17.5" at it tallest and weighs a solid 31.5 pounds.  It has weathering as shown in the photos--no breaks so it's in nice condition.  My guess is this is likely centuries old and very rare.  If anyone thinks they might have additional information about this piece I'd love to hear it.
*Please note that my shipping time is up to 5 business days as I have multiple jobs and can only ship one day a week.  If you happen to purchase after I return from the post office on shipping day it will be a full week wait until I am able to ship again.  But most people will have a much shorter wait and some will have very fast shipping.  No one will have to wait more than 5 business days.  Thank you for understanding.