Compared to the recent past there is a lack of ease about much modern collecting. Ask the average person what pieces or styles they buy and most will admit: “I buy what I like”. At face value the phrase tells nothing, merely frustrating and challenging the seller to fine tune their telepathic skills. But look deeper and perhaps it speaks volumes about the world we live in and a new relationship with the objects we choose to call our own. “I buy what I like” may mean just that: objects with a personal and emotional connection. In a world drowning in ‘stuff’, perhaps people are beginning to re-evaluate, buying only those pieces that ‘speak to them’ no matter how outwardly random the selection. Its a very post-postmodern principle, a landscape where the individual collector now actively dictates the rules of the game, not the other way around.
This approach is also not ‘collecting’ for financial gain (although plenty of that still goes on), but a going back to basics. Its primordial, anti-establishment and warm-hearted. Its a return to the random contents of children’s pockets and of the Gentleman’s curio cabinet. Animal, mineral or spiritual, these often smaller-sized objects are not reflective of the bold stained glass panels of history, but the humble shards of everyday life. Taxidermy, tribal artefacts and antiquarian trinkets (which have all seen a peak in salerooms recently) meet in equal measure on the shelf to be shared, discussed and most of all-just admired. A reaction to our ever more virtual lives, these objects are often very sensory. Tactile, warm, loved, weathered and individual, patina it seems still matters.
If collecting in the recent past was about depth of understanding, then maybe now its all about breadth. Nostalgic objects, querky objects, objects that tell us a story. Like a child picking blackberries we are choosing to forage our goods carefully but widely. Given the overload of our modern world, some carefree abandon is hardly surprising. To upcycle Churchill: ‘Never before in the field of human history has so much been owned by so many, be it old or new’. We are choosing to dabble and taste and taste again with as many antiques as we please. To keep up we only ask for bite-sized mouthfuls. We no longer need to understand or even own the global history of corkscrews, radios or silver napkin rings, merely the one in our hand. And yet these shallow tasters, purchased and placed together on the shelf, are important. They become the public statement of our own individuality. While iconic collectors of the past like Pitt Rivers may have been laughed at for their own randomness, we are now turning full circle again. The 17th century enlightenment provided an explosion of new ideas for early collectors to go rummaging in. Today’s collector will likewise run wild in the 24/7 shopping arcade (and limitless library) of the internet.
An antiques industry that supports this level of individuality is to be fair, a constant head-ache to the trade. Its perhaps easier to accommodate by the auction houses, but gone are the days when any item would just sell itself, purely on its style, period or calibre. For the modern collector though, its an exhilarating time with few boundaries. While things may appear otherwise, I suspect most people’s eclectic decisions are not as random as we think. For instance the rise in interest in taxidermy, folk art and country chic may be because they speak of a simpler more organic world, devoid of Twitter and Facebook. We are also choosing items often that reflect our more noble traits like humour.
As a somewhat incurable collector myself, I know that I used to feel a sense of shame when choosing to jump ship from one collecting field to another. I would sell off the old to pay for the new, leaving only one or two token items to remind me of the journey and as a constant reminder for my lack of dedication to the cause. But that was then. Today I feel more comfortable jumping between fields and ideas, enjoying not just the items themselves but the tentative and exhilarating connections that emerge between them. I can’t tell you the next object that will fire up my boiler……but that’s always been half the fun of collecting after all !
Eclectic table photo attribution: by denise carbonell; Pitt Rivers Museum photo attribution: by Dark Dwarf
eddintheclouds 