Spurlin Cobra's Fang mugs
Two snake-wrapped tiki mugs made by Spurlin Ceramics and credited to Stella Bodey: the Cobra's Fang mug of the Islander restaurant in Los Angeles, long known only from its menu, and the smaller OA Cobra Fang sold by Oceanic Arts.
Sourcing: weak 2 reference · 2 commercial · 5 social
The Cobra's Fang mugs are two related snake-wrapped tiki mugs made by Spurlin Ceramics and credited to the designer Stella Bodey. One was made for The Islander restaurant in Los Angeles. The other, the OA Cobra Fang, was sold by the decor firm Oceanic Arts as a catalog item.[1][2][3] Both are rare, and for years the Islander version was known to collectors only from a drawing on the restaurant's menu.[4][5]
Islander Cobra's Fang
The Islander version is a highball-shaped mug encircled by a cobra and glazed in avocado green. The collector database mytiki.life gives its size as 3.25 inches wide by 6 inches high, holding 10 fluid ounces, and dates it to circa 1961–1971.[1] An eBay seller whose listing is archived on WorthPoint dated it to about 1960 and said Spurlin made it in conjunction with Oceanic Arts. The seller described a matte glaze with brown showing through and some unglazed spots.[2] The Islander's menu pictured the mug on the same page as Spurlin's "Coffee Grog" mug.[5]
Collectors called the mug a "crypto-mug" because it was known only from the menu. In February 2010 a Tiki Central member posted an unmarked mug that closely matched the drawing. The Book of Tiki author Sven Kirsten, posting as "bigbrotiki", said he had never seen one before.[4] Other members attributed the find to Spurlin from its wood-grain pattern, glaze and unsigned base, and said its green glaze matched a Spurlin mug in Oceanic Arts' display case.[4] In November 2013 a Tiki Central member offered an example "from the La Cienega Islander" on eBay.[6]
OA Cobra Fang
Oceanic Arts' own Cobra Fang mug is smaller, about 3.75 inches tall. The catalog of OA's April 2022 auction says Bodey created it for OA to sell directly to clients, and that it is marked with OA's sail logo. The catalog calls it the only mug OA offered in open production rather than for a single venue.[3] The same auction included a white sample that never went into production, and an earlier brown-green prototype that appears to have been sculpted by hand rather than cast in a mold.[3]
In 2008 a Tiki Central member passed on OA co-owner Bob Van Oosting's account that the mugs had once sold so slowly that OA marked them down to 39 cents each. Another member reported that Van Oosting still had most of the original mold.[4] OA and the maker Tiki Diablo later cast 100 mugs from the Spurlin molds in the original green glaze, plus 10 in a mottled green-brown finish. A collector reported the reissue on Tiki Central in 2013.[7][3]
Influence
The Islander menu drawing has inspired later mugs. The mug maker Babalu produced a Cobra's Fang mug from 2008 to 2010 based on the menu image.[8] A Tiki Central member has pointed to a "Copa Coatl" mug on the menu of the Mauna Loa restaurant in Mexico City that mixes features of the OA and Islander designs.[4][9]
See also
- Spurlin Ceramics (tiki mugs) · Companies mixed
Spurlin Ceramics was a small Lynwood, California pottery run by designer Stella Bodey (née Spurlin) from about the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Working with Oceanic Arts, it made some of the earliest tiki mugs, drink bowls and lamp figures for Polynesian restaurants, and its pieces are now prized collectibles. - Stella Bodey (née Spurlin) · People mixed
Stella Bodey (1905–1971), born Stella Spurlin, was a California ceramicist who ran Spurlin Ceramics of Lynwood and, working with Oceanic Arts, made some of the earliest tiki mugs, drink bowls and lamp figures for Polynesian restaurants. - Spurlin Island Chief ("Husband Killer") tiki mug · Products & Brands mixed
The Island Chief, or "Husband Killer", is a standing pointed-head tiki mug that Stella Bodey of Spurlin Ceramics made for the Islander restaurant in Los Angeles by 1960. It is one of the earliest tiki mugs and one of the most collected Spurlin-named objects. - Spurlin Vicious Virgin mug and bowl · Products & Brands mixed
The "Vicious Virgin" is a nude female figure that Spurlin Ceramics used on a mug and a three-figure drink bowl for the Islander restaurant in Los Angeles. A prototype of the bowl, designed by Stella Bodey, was the centerpiece of Oceanic Arts' "Holy Grail" display cabinet. - Spurlin collectibles and memorabilia · Products & Brands weak
A guide to collectible objects and products that bear the Spurlin name: Spurlin Dairy milk bottles, Spurlin Sales farm-equipment advertising, Spurlin Ceramics tiki mugs, 1950s Spurlin records, signed art and craft pieces, and modern novelty goods. - Spurlin businesses and brands · Companies mixed
An overview of companies, products, patents and trademarks bearing the Spurlin name, from a 19th-century Alabama jewelry store and a mid-century Oklahoma farm-equipment dealer to today's builders and funeral homes, concentrated in the US South, especially Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina.
References
- ↑ ↑ Tiki Mug: Spurlin Cobra's Fang Mug — mytiki.life — Collector database Reference
- ↑ ↑ RARE Original Los Angeles Islander Cobra's Fang tiki mug by Spurlin circa 1960 — WorthPoint (#4715111123) — Archived eBay listing; seller's description Commercial
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Oceanic Arts: The Godfathers of Tiki, auction catalog, April 23–24, 2022 — Peekaboo Gallery (Internet Archive copy) — Auction-house catalog; lots 1000–1003 (OA Cobra Fang prototypes and Tiki Diablo mold pull) Commercial
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Is This The Elusive Cobra's Fang Mug? — Tiki Central — Forum thread, June 2008 – March 2010 Social
- ↑ ↑ Post by Dustycajun, 28 May 2010, in "Crypto-Mugs" — Tiki Central — Islander menu page showing the Cobra's Fang and Coffee Grog mugs Social
- ↑ eBay: Spurlin Cobra's Fang Mug from the La Cienega Islander For Sale — Tiki Central — Forum thread, November 2013 Social
- ↑ Post by nui 'umi 'umi, 16 March 2013, in "Tiki Finds" — Tiki Central — Oceanic Arts and Tiki Diablo reissue from the Spurlin molds Social
- ↑ Tiki Mug: Babalu's Cobra's Fang Mug Artist Proof — mytiki.life — Collector database Reference
- ↑ Post by Tattoo, 16 April 2018, in "Ren Clark's Polynesian Village and the Mauna Loa Mexico connection" — Tiki Central — Forum post on the Mauna Loa "Copa Coatl" mug Social
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.