Collecting:- opinions sought

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Q1.

does knowledge of the society, culture and history from which a collected item come enhance the pursuit of collecting those items?

Q2.

if the response to Q1. is "yes, it does", is it a reasonable expectation that the majority of collectors would attempt to improve their knowledge in these areas ?

Q3.

if the response to Q1. is "no, it does not", can the reasons why it does not be identified ?

Q1.
Yes. I believe more so when a specific item found in context. Consider also many people may actually be involved in the pursuit of understanding a specific culture firstly which then led them to collect material item from the cultures they have interest in.

Q2
Yes. I think it is fair to say two thing;
Once an interest is piqued it usually grows and develops.
BUT, everyone learns at their own pace and methods.

Q3.

NA.

Gavin

[kronckew]

q1 yes.
q2 yes.

as an american collector of mostly european and south east asian edged weapons, i have visited and/or lived/travelled in both, ate the food, studied the history. i of course now live in the UK, which is (marginally) european. whether i am typical? probably not. i have also lived in the middle east (KSA) for about 10 years, and have a couple of pieces from the region. knowing the culture aids in understanding the derivation and usage patterns of the items. the more you learn, the more you understand.

[GIO]

Q 1 : yes
Q 2 : yes, but only to a certain extent. I collect Western, Indonesian and Japanese (very few) weapons, and have an idea of the general cultural and historical background of the Countries concerned, but I find that a full knowledge of what stays behind is very difficult, complicated and far from our culture and tradition. I am referring mainly to Indonesia, as you can immagine. In my opinion the understanding of Javanese thinking would take an entire life, and "even more" if one could not have the possibilty of living in Indonesia, in contact with all categories of people, and for rather long periods of time. The alternative is to read books, but this is by far insufficient.
To conclude, a collector should do his best to understand other cultures as much as he can, but the main appeal for the items he collects will always consist in their artistic and technical aspect

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you for your responses, gentlemen, and I do hope that some of our other members will also let me have their opinions.

[VANDOO]

QUESTION ONE YES
2. COLLECTORS ARE SOMETIMES ATTRACTED BY THE EXOTIC LOOKS OF AN ITEM, BUT OFTEN IT TAKES A BIT OF A STORY OR TRUE INFORMATION TO HOOK HIM. THE LEGENDS OF MAGIC, MYSTERY, METEOR IRON BLADES AND STRANGE POWERS MAKE ONE WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE KERIS. THIS LEADS TO A STUDY OF THE TECKNICAL PART HOW THEY ARE MADE AND WHY THIS OR THAT IS MADE IN SUCH A MANNER AND WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OR MEANING OF ITS PARTS. IT ALSO LEADS TO A STUDY OF THE CULTURE WITH ITS LEGENDS, AND HOW THEY VIEW AND VALUE THE KERIS AND WHY THEY HAVE THESE BELIEFS.
3. SOME COLLECTORS WILL STUDY ONLY THE KERIS AND ITS CULTURE AND EVEN WHEN SPENDING A LIFETIME STUDYING NO DOUBT THEY WILL STILL HAVE THINGS TO LEARN.
MOST COLLECTORS WILL LEARN A LITTLE BIT BY BIT OVER THE YEARS BUT WILL STILL BE NOVICES AS THE WHOLE STORY OF THE KERIS AND ITS MANY VARIATIONS IS COMPLICATED. I PERSONALLY COLLECT KERIS WHEN I SEE SOMETHING I DON'T HAVE OR THAT APPEALS TO ME, SO I DON'T COLLECT LIKE A SCHOLAR OR AN INVESTOR.

4. THE INVESTOR WILL ONLY BE INTERESTED IN CASH VALUE AND POTENTIAL PROFIT NOT A STUDY OF THE KERIS OR THE CULTURE AS HE IS BASICALLY A COLLECTOR OF MONEY. SO TO HIM THE BLING= GOLD, JEWELS,IVORY, ROYAL PROVANANCE, AGE OR THE NAME OF A FAMOUS MASTER MAKER ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS. TO EACH HIS OWN.

ONE CANNOT TRULY LEARN ANY CULTURE BY READING ABOUT IT ONE WOULD HAVE TO LIVE A LIFETIME WITHIN THE CULTURE AND SHARE ITS BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS TO BELONG AND TRULY KNOW. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE WITH THE CULTURES OF THE PAST THAT ARE LOST AND HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME. THE CURRENT BELIEFS SELDOM WILL BE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ORIGINAL CULTURES. OFTEN WE READ OBSERVATIONS WRITTEN BY A VISITING RESEARCHER OR ADVENTURER ABOUT THE CULTURE IN THE PAST. THESE ARE USUALLY THE OBSERVATIONS OF THE OUTSIDER NOT THE WAY THE LOCALS PERCEIVE IT AT ALL. EVEN A KEEN OBSERVER IS USING HIS LOGIC AND POINT OF VIEW NOT THAT OF THE FORIGN CULTURE HE IS STUDYING SO MISTAKES ARE MADE. YEP!! ITS COMPLICATED BUT VERY INTERESTING