And Finally

The course of a collectors life is filled, if they are sensible, with dilemma. I have never quite come to grips with the single minded folk who seem to have tunnel vision, say art Deco and someone will start boring the pants off you, quickly the subject become a mania, well nothing wrong with that I suppose but I wander along finding pleasure in all sorts of things.. 

We were poking around just outside a Buddhist temple in Shanghai, suddenly a little bronze rat took my eye (see left). This little beastie had been made the day before, a Rat sitting on a pile of coins with Ratlings crawling all over her. Splendid and unusual piece of work and at £3 a bargain I thought. It now sits amongst all the other junk collected but gives me pleasure every time I see another individual shrink in horror at this rodent depiction. 

This brings me onto the subject of knowledge. The flaw in my collecting philosophy is that it is virtually impossible to have in depth knowledge on all the odds and ends that come into the house, and stay for it seems, for ever. (See image left - larger image available). It was raining, the town was empty and for once an auction was in progress. Straying from my daily tasks I went into the crowded room and wandered along the shelves filled with knickknacks, hoping not to find anything of interest, 'Bugger', there sat a biscuit oriental figure of what seemed to be a monk, his robe in a bright polychrome finish. As I drew closer I knew I was in trouble, his face had at some time been painted and had virtually all gone leaving a malignant and shady glare of an expression that seemed to follow me. 

It sits not far from the Rat and fifteen years on I still know nothing about the fellow, he seems happy enough though. 

A similar thing happened in Perth (the one in Scotland). We were visiting an old friend who had made the transition from Forrester to antique dealer who now spent his waking hours driving Range Rover loads of goodies from Scotland to London where he insisted on making what he would joyfully declare "Obscene profit". We had no sooner unloaded the cases when my child bride spotted a ceramic Chinese (I think) Lion (left). "Now I like that" dontya just hate it when someone does that, nothing like telling a dealer that you are keen on part of his stock........ especially when the said dealer is also a friend, morality, dealers and friendship are poor bedfellows. When we retired for the night I pointed the failure of her buying technique out and we decided not to mention this creature again. Well it worked, a week later when home and safe, the boss phoned him and agreed his asking price, plus of course postage and insurance, yet again I know nothing about the piece, does it give me pleasure?  Not as much as it would have had it been a hundred less than we paid. 

You may have seen mention of a man called Dr Turk, we met a long time ago, he was a brilliant chap and a well of knowledge, all very formal throughout our relationship, I would call and make an appointment, we would go have tea see things even on some occasions show him the latest treasure, which never quite worked out as he would approve the piece then retrieve from some drawer or cupboard, a piece twice as good to allow us a guideline for future reference. 

I received a letter from him asking if I could pop by, he had decided to get rid of a piece of furniture, it was nothing of consequence he said but too big for the bedroom, and a dust magnet. Well, four hours later it sat in the back of the car, I was yet again broke but pretty chuffed, not because it was a good deal (although in some ways it was) but because it has so many drawers! The collectors cabinet, has around a hundred little drawers and doors, each lacquered and many with ivory overlay. It turns on its base, bells tinkle and inside little nooks can be seen shades of its early glory in the form of Nashiji lacquer that has been protected from fading and over cleaning, made in the Meiji period for export to the west this was not of Japanese taste at all, in fact I suspect the Japanese would be horrified if one was found in uncle Kiyonaga's home. 

Again this illustrates the stupidity of an eclectic collector, "That's nice" come that thought pattern where the mouth and brain are not connected, "I'll have that", then you go away and try to fit the item into the general theme of the collection, you know, like coming back from Spain with a straw donkey that is wearing a straw hat and seemed like a good Idea at the time. 

Finally there is the Tazza, I do not know what a Tazza is or what purpose it serves (picture right) but there it was..... Two feet high, made of bronze and filthy dirty. Being in the mood for buying something, the gods pushed this beast of a lump in my path, under the dirt I could see what appeared to be fine Zogan inlay forming intricate geometric designs, large ugly dragons ran up each side, we are fond of dragons, well as fond as you can be of the bronze type. But the most impressive thing is its weight, a lot of weight for the money I remember thinking. When I got it home and checked it out in a good light I was relieved to see all the inlay in good condition, so the cleaning began, it took until four in the morning but not a single problem came to light, except just how ugly it is, oddly the dirt and dust seemed to camouflage the size and proportions of the beast, and beast it certainly is. Let this be a warning my friends 

 

Greyman