Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Why and What We Collect--A Tale of Two Barung

A. G. Maisey · 25th August 2014, 11:58 PM

As I have said, for me, it is subjective.

All the things I collect I have very long experience with. Because of this there are various factors that can effect my decision to buy.

When I was much less experienced with keris I used to focus on just the fact that it was a keris, this was when I was a kid of 12 or 14 years old, then later, in my twenties and thirties I was looking for the rare and unusual; after I gained knowledge of how quality is assessed in a keris I focussed on quality, and sought keris of the very best quality I could afford.

All these stages in my collecting of keris have added to the way I now look at a keris, so each appraisal of a keris becomes subjective, although that subjectivity is guided, often intuitively guided, by very long objective experience.

Will I buy a very badly damaged keris that may appear to be no more than junk?

Yes. Provided it has a feature that makes it worthy of study, or it is worth putting time into to restore. My core collection contains not only keris with six figure values, but also keris that even very experienced internationally known collectors have needed guidance before they were able to understand the value of the piece. In my opinion this type of in depth study is what is required to gain true knowledge.

Will I buy a paperweight with chips or flaws?

Yes.

For similar reasons that apply to my keris collecting:- to gain knowledge.

I do have some very good weights, but the knowledge that has permitted me to acquire those weights has come from the study of weights that are less perfect.

Bicycles?

I started to race when I was 16 and I finally gave it away for good when I was 42.

I still ride a bike. Mostly a mountain bike on bush tracks, but I have a total of 10 or 12 bikes 3 or 4 of which get used constantly --- mountain bike, fixie, road bike. I need to keep the number down to about ten because I don't have the space to keep any more, so I am always selling one or buying one.

Some of the nicest bikes I've owned have come from the local rubbish tip. I bought one a couple of weeks ago that I sold yesterday to my exercise physiologist.

This bike is a 1960's Peugeot, Nervex Professional lugs, all second string competition components from the 1960's, when I bought it I paid $10. It looked like pure crap, filthy, chain rusted solid, lousy paint job, wheels out of true. A real mess. It took me a couple of days and about $60 to turn it into a very classy fixie. It’s a 23" square frame, which is far too big for me, otherwise I would have kept it, instead of passing it on to somebody else.

Would I buy a bike with missing wheels?

Oh yes, most definitely. I'd buy a bike with missing or broken anything, provided it was good bike and I could fix it.

I enjoy the process of fixing.

As I said in my previous post:-

"Desirability in anything is not always obvious, nor is it governed by any single consistent factor."

25th August 2014, 11:58 PM	#22
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,700	As I have said, for me, it is subjective. All the things I collect I have very long experience with. Because of this there are various factors that can effect my decision to buy. When I was much less experienced with keris I used to focus on just the fact that it was a keris, this was when I was a kid of 12 or 14 years old, then later, in my twenties and thirties I was looking for the rare and unusual; after I gained knowledge of how quality is assessed in a keris I focussed on quality, and sought keris of the very best quality I could afford. All these stages in my collecting of keris have added to the way I now look at a keris, so each appraisal of a keris becomes subjective, although that subjectivity is guided, often intuitively guided, by very long objective experience. Will I buy a very badly damaged keris that may appear to be no more than junk? Yes. Provided it has a feature that makes it worthy of study, or it is worth putting time into to restore. My core collection contains not only keris with six figure values, but also keris that even very experienced internationally known collectors have needed guidance before they were able to understand the value of the piece. In my opinion this type of in depth study is what is required to gain true knowledge. Will I buy a paperweight with chips or flaws? Yes. For similar reasons that apply to my keris collecting:- to gain knowledge. I do have some very good weights, but the knowledge that has permitted me to acquire those weights has come from the study of weights that are less perfect. Bicycles? I started to race when I was 16 and I finally gave it away for good when I was 42. I still ride a bike. Mostly a mountain bike on bush tracks, but I have a total of 10 or 12 bikes 3 or 4 of which get used constantly --- mountain bike, fixie, road bike. I need to keep the number down to about ten because I don't have the space to keep any more, so I am always selling one or buying one. Some of the nicest bikes I've owned have come from the local rubbish tip. I bought one a couple of weeks ago that I sold yesterday to my exercise physiologist. This bike is a 1960's Peugeot, Nervex Professional lugs, all second string competition components from the 1960's, when I bought it I paid $10. It looked like pure crap, filthy, chain rusted solid, lousy paint job, wheels out of true. A real mess. It took me a couple of days and about $60 to turn it into a very classy fixie. It’s a 23" square frame, which is far too big for me, otherwise I would have kept it, instead of passing it on to somebody else. Would I buy a bike with missing wheels? Oh yes, most definitely. I'd buy a bike with missing or broken anything, provided it was good bike and I could fix it. I enjoy the process of fixing. As I said in my previous post:- "Desirability in anything is not always obvious, nor is it governed by any single consistent factor."