One-of-a-kind items from throughout the Pacific are being offered in a two-day sale event Friday and Saturday in Volcano Village.
One-of-a-kind items from throughout the Pacific are being offered in a two-day sale event Friday and Saturday in Volcano Village.
The items, all from a diverse collection built through many years by Dr. Marvin “Monty” and Kathy Montvel-Cohen, are being sold by the family estate to benefit the Volcano Art Center.
Antique shell money from Yap, hand-woven tribal masks from Papua New Guinea’s Sepik River region, a carved wood meeting house from Yap, teapots from China, lacquer ware from Japan, polychrome wooden masks from Bali, wood and shell navigational charts from the Marshall Islands, kapa cloth from Fiji and fine woven baskets from Southeast Asia are examples of the hundreds of objects that will be available.
While living and teaching on Guam, the couple traveled extensively throughout the Pacific Rim, collecting along the way. Monty Montvel-Cohen’s work as an anthropologist took them to remote locations, where they were able to acquire items directly from craftsmen. Monty, who was an associate professor of anthropology and chair of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Guam as well as serving as territorial archaeologist, and Kathy Montvel-Cohen, who was a professor of fine arts at the University of Guam with a focus on ceramics, had a lifetime of collecting. Monty passed away in 1991 and Kathy earlier this year.
In addition to the Pacific craft items, the sale will include a large selection of ceramics made by Kathy Montvel-Cohen, as well as a smaller collection of ceramic pieces made by colleagues of hers and other artists whose work she admired. Most of these pieces are functional ware: plates, cups, bowls and teapots.
A sale of artwork and all sorts of other items, including tools, small appliances, cooking and kitchen wares, garden and yard equipment and collectibles also will help raise funds for VAC.
All three sales are slated for noon-5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at the VAC Niaulani Campus, 19-4074 Old Volcano Road.
Visit www.volcanoartcenter.org for additional information.