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casimira
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Collecting
« Thread Started on Aug 11, 2009, 10:53am »

In order to differentiate between hoarding and collecting. T63's beautiful Native American art collection most certainly being among a fine example.
Tell us about your collection(s) . How and why you began collecting etc.

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traveler63
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #1 on Aug 11, 2009, 8:44pm »

Casi:

This is probably going to be boring but here goes.

We started looking at Native American jewelry here in Tucson when Kirk was going to University of Arizona. We were starving students back then (40 years ago). Part of the draw is Kirk is part Native American, we don't know which tribe. We do know that it was a Michigan tribe, could be Tobacco, or Iriquois.

We moved to Oregon after he graduated and on one of our return home visits to parents, we purchased our first katsina doll (the carved ones on top of the showcase. Katsinas are carved from the cottonwood root that is found here in Tucson and in Arizona and in the last decade or so are one piece. They are carved by generally men in the Hopi tribe whose reservation is here in Northern Arizona. These are religious in nature and without going into great detail depict a very complex
religious system. We got to know one of the katsina carvers and we have commissioned three carvings. In addition, thru Lawrence we have met many of the artists of the collection that we have. We have visited the Hopi, Navajo reservations, several times. We have been to most of the reservations in New Mexico.

When we moved back to Tucson , in 1987, we started to collect in ernest and what I posted doesn't include, paintings, drawings, jewelry and Navajo rugs. One of the premier collection of Navajo rugs and the premier authority on them, lives about 35 minutes from us. In addition, every August about this time of year there is a huge Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It attracts all of the premier Native American Artists, potters, carvers, weavers, painters, jewelry artists, you name it.

The why is just that we have an enormous respect for their way of life, what they believe, their religion, and the art. We especially like the Hopi tribe, they are sweet, gentle people.

« Last Edit: Aug 11, 2009, 8:52pm by traveler63 »

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casimira
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #2 on Aug 12, 2009, 11:30am »

Your appreciation of the people who created these wonderful objects of art says so much. Oft times people collect "things" with little knowledge or regard for who created them.
Many collectors of "things" will acquire a sense of greed and obsession over time. I have seen it happen time and time again. They HAVE to have it.
A dear friend of ours in NYC began collecting antique rugs. It began as a simple appreciation for some rugs he had inherited from his family. Gradually,he began to acquire more rugs and would go to small auctions or estate sales and buy a few here and there. I went with him to a few auctions and learned a great deal from him. Even bought a couple of small rugs for a fairly small amount of money (they succumbed to the moths over time).
Soon, he began going to bigger auctions,corresponded with dealers around the country(this was all before the internet)and traveled to various places in all his free time.
Then,he began traveling to all parts of the globe,remote villages throughout the Middle East,Turkey,Russia,wherever.
He amassed a very large collection. And there they sit,rolled up in his studio apartment in Midtown Manhattan. He cannot appreciate their beauty,he cannot bear the thought of parting with any of them (I have offered to "store" some for him).
It's a strange phenomena,similar to hoarding in many ways.
I have had a few collections of "things". Art pottery from the '40's,vintage colored glass(primarily cobalt),old white stoneware,some antique tiles. All are either displayed or in use.
I haven't bought anything in quite some time and it never was an obsession,more an appreciation.

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lola
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #3 on Aug 12, 2009, 4:29pm »

I collect shopping lists discarded or forgotten at grocery stores. I like the different handwritings of mundane items.
advantages: free
disadvantages: collection is building VERY slowly

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lola
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #4 on Aug 12, 2009, 4:30pm »

Other notes, too, like something a schoolchild will drop on the way home. I find these things touching somehow.

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hal2000
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #5 on Aug 12, 2009, 6:49pm »

I like to collect bottle caps, but many from the most interesting places have nothing marked on them. It takes money to be able to print a name on a bottle cap.

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bixaorellana
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #6 on Aug 13, 2009, 1:12am »

Lola ~~ that is THE most charming hobby!

Hal, I didn't realize there were blank caps. Guess it makes sense.

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casimira
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #7 on Aug 14, 2009, 11:19am »

I collect bottle caps too, particularly when traveling. Also matchbooks but not like I used to.
After Katrina when the tenssof hundreds of trash piles were everywhere ,I saved many photos,letters,childrens drawings.I have deceided to make a collage with them all as I don't know what else to do with them.

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jazz
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #8 on Aug 25, 2009, 11:31pm »

Traveller63,

Your collection of Native American art is beautiful, as shown here,

[image]

Your husband's heritage is rich and textured. Is that an Edward Curtis photo? His documentation of Native Americans is brilliant. There is also a book that I love, Touch the Earth, by Terri McLuhan.

« Last Edit: Aug 25, 2009, 11:58pm by jazz »

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traveler63
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #9 on Aug 26, 2009, 1:54am »

Jazz:

No, that is R Carlos Nakai a famous Native American Flute player. We don't have any Curtis yet, but we have a complete book of his photos.

[image]

This is one of our Navajo Rugs, it is a Ganado Red and is tapestry quality.

I also have a complete collection of Native American jewelry which is in the cabinet below the rug.

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rikita
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #10 on Sept 3, 2009, 6:56am »

i guess lots of people do this, so it is nothing particularly interesting - i used to collect samples of banknotes and coins from all countries i travel to. have some of them stuck to the wall in my place now. these days i travel much too rarely for collecting many more, though.

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bazfaz
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #11 on Sept 3, 2009, 7:06am »

When I was a boy living in Toronto I used to collect the cardboard discs that sealed milk bottles. There were a surprising number of different dairies.

When I was 17 I was still entitled to accompany my parents on a long leave from South Africa. We travelled by boat, train, car round mainland Europe and the UK. I had a suitcase. My parents had 16 pieces of luggage. Arriving at a railway station - say, Paris - it was necessary to hire a taxi for the 3 of us and a taxi for the luggage. Basically it was my father's fault because of his compulsion to collect stuff and travel with it. In every city we visited he bought an ashtray, a shirt and a tie. Of course there would be souvenirs as well. And a growing heap of partially used packs of local cigarettes. And bottles of local hooch bought, tasted, not liked - but not discarded.

I think this is the origin of my refusal to travel with anything more than a backpack so that I can always walk anywhere with all my possessions.

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spindrift
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #12 on Sept 3, 2009, 8:10am »

Nowadays I only collect small reminders of where I've travelled. Into my travelling diaries I paste train tickets, baggage reclaims, seat numbers, notes scribbled by helpful people, receipts, entrance tickets to monuments, in fact anything that pertains to my travels.

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Re: Collecting
« Reply #13 on Sept 3, 2009, 9:57am »

I used to collect parrots (not real ones of course) the smallest I had was about 5mm, it was an earring, the biggest about a metre. One day I was starting to get sick of them and threw most of them out. Now I only have one nice big wooden one left.

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bazfaz
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #14 on Sept 3, 2009, 11:14am »

Like Spindrift we collect tickets, bills, visiting cards etc and stick them in the journal Mrs Faz keeps of our travels

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kerouac2
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #15 on Sept 3, 2009, 11:21am »

I put those things in an envelope and I mail them to myself when I have a small bundle. It is always interesting to see if I arrive home before the envelope.

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casimira
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #16 on Sept 3, 2009, 11:47am »

Like rikita I like to collect foreign monies. The Turkish lire notes always make for amusing conversation but,I have always had a fascination for coins.
I also like to collect match books from different places however, these are harder to come by these days.
I also have a collection of bookmarks from different bookstores from all over.
Also,rocks,small unusual rocks from different beaches,mountain trails,abandoned mines in the Southwest.

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traveler63
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #17 on Sept 3, 2009, 2:16pm »

When I travel I keep every ticket, card, whatever because I do scrapbooks of each place. K2 the idea of mailing stuff back home is great!!!!

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bazfaz
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #18 on Sept 3, 2009, 2:21pm »

Mrs Faz gtakes a glue stick and gums in the journal as she writes it. The journal turns into a hefty wodge after 3 weeks or so.

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spindrift
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #19 on Sept 3, 2009, 6:19pm »

How similar we all are

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kerouac2
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #20 on Sept 3, 2009, 9:18pm »

I have a mammoth jar of world coins which must weigh more than 25 kgs. Its growth has slowed considerably since the advent of the euro.

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fumobici
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #21 on Sept 4, 2009, 9:28pm »

The Euro has destroyed collecting money :'(

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rikita
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #22 on Sept 4, 2009, 10:16pm »

only within the euro zone though...

also it has brought the new joy of collecting a sample of each euro coin. something that can be done even at home. and is only fun if you don't order a set but wait till each coin comes to you.

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bixaorellana
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #23 on Sept 12, 2009, 2:52pm »

I was going to say that I no longer collect anything. I was never a very obsessive collector, anyway. The people who acquire things they don't like always mystified me -- "this is an ugly thimble, but it belongs in my collection".

However, it occurs to me that I do have many more rebozos than I really "need". If I had more money, I'd certainly travel and accumulate more.

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lagatta
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #24 on Sept 13, 2009, 1:02pm »

Oh, I love rebozos. If I ever visit you in Mexico, I'll definitely buy one. You'll tell me where to get a quality rebozo. Ideally, I'd like to know who the weaver was.

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bixaorellana
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #25 on Sept 13, 2009, 4:38pm »

That would be fun! I always go to the same lady in Oaxaca and take other people there. She has a real reverence for the rebozo.

Go to this page & several after it for photos of different styles of rebozos around the country.

Here are my three good ones from Oaxaca. The two on either end are the "classic" kind, most often to be seen. They are usually in black or very dark blue. The brown one is the best of my whole collection.
[image]

One of the glories of a rebozo is the detail on the fringe area. I sometimes go for less of that, and a longer fabric area. Here is a very typical black Oaxaca rebozo with more visual interest than mine:
[image]

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casimira
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #26 on Sept 13, 2009, 5:13pm »

Sept 13, 2009, 1:02pm, lagatta wrote:

Oh, I love rebozos. If I ever visit you in Mexico, I'll definitely buy one. You'll tell me where to get a quality rebozo. Ideally, I'd like to know who the weaver was.

That's what I said

,I ended up with many more. They are one of the most versatile fabric inventions ever. The wool ones, although gorgeous,can be a bit scratchy on one's throat.

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lagatta
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #27 on Sept 13, 2009, 8:40pm »

Yes, but I live in a frozen waste. Ideally I'd like a cotton one and a woollen one.

Indigenous women up here carry their babies and small children about in big knotted scarves as well (no, not in big cities in what is the "South" to them, in their own communities and on the land), but in many cases the fabric is imported - remember the fur trade. Europeans thought they were screwing the Natives over (and were, in many cases) but for the Indigenous people sometimes woven blankets and pieces of them were sometimes more useful and easier to sew than hide (which the ladies had to chew, remember).

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icy
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #28 on Sept 21, 2009, 8:18am »

I collect owl figurines. I try to keep them small, under 10 cm, but I have been given some life-size ones by relatives, along with owl coasters, owl trivets, owl candles and owl jewelry. I started the collection quite by accident: I wanted to make my dorm room at school more home-like and would buy cheap little ornaments for that purpose. For some reason several of them were owls. People noticed and started giving them to me, and I finally started collecting them in self-defense.

Whenever I go abroad, I try to bring back two things: a local cookbook and a tacky fridge magnet. I often bring back a jar of local honey as well, but I wouldn't call that collecting, as it does get eaten.

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kerouac2
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Re: Collecting
« Reply #29 on Sept 21, 2009, 11:21am »

Sept 4, 2009, 10:16pm, rikita wrote:

also it has brought the new joy of collecting a sample of each euro coin. something that can be done even at home. and is only fun if you don't order a set but wait till each coin comes to you.

It took me forever to get my first Slovenian euro -- more than a year. I even got a Maltese 50 cent coin before that. I have still not found a Slovakian coin. Also very rare for me are Finnish coins, so I was surprised to get two in two days last week.

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