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Hi everyone
I have just been accepted as a member and am very pleased to have found this excellent site . I began accumulating ethnic weaponry over 40 years ago as a teenager . Really I wanted to collect European arms and armour as I was very much into the medieval period, but somehow my pocket money didnt run to it ! So instead I turned to the weird and wonderful world of ethnographic arms. At that time in England there were no arms fairs and the only places you could pick up these strange artefacts was junk shops and antique fairs & shops.. but mostly ( in my experience ) junk shops. That's because the perception of these items was as 'rubbish' . I became fascinated by them and just bought anything I could afford.. and believe me a lot was rubbish. There really were no reference books so mainly I didnt know what I was buying ... my crieria were very basic .. if it looked good and was cheap , it was for me ... I havent changed that much to this day. When arms fairs became common in England in the late 60s early 70s you still did not see a lot of ethnic stuff .. apart from Japanese swords & Pacific island clubs .. all at fantastic prices. I gradually got more into Indo Persian weapons ( at the low end of the market ! ) and slipped into African .. especially North African and Zulu . I have some on display but a lot still slumbers in the loft , most of which I intend to get out and trade in order to finance the habit .... I have toyed with the idea of opening a clinic to cure collectors of the addiction .. I reckon I could make a fortune from many wives !
By profession I am a horticultural consultant and this has enabled me to travel all over the world often to remote places where I have made some interesting finds. Most weekends I can be found at military shows in England or Belgium and once a year I treat myselft to the Show of Shows in Louisville.
I have just attached a few pics of some ofmy collection .. excuse the quality of the shots , I live in a dark old house !