My statement on my site, my collection and my collecting philosophy
My collection consists of objects that may be more recent representations of original traditional pieces and objects that are older
authentic pieces, in my opinion, and have had traditional use. Some objects in my collection are items that are geared towards the
'Western export market' and may not represent the material expressions of traditional, indigenous African cultures. When I'm deciding
on a piece that I purchase, my main concern is not “is this piece old or authentic” but rather “is this piece beautiful to me, is it in good
style, and does this piece speak to me on some artistic/aesthetic level that I personally appreciate”. I collect African art to a large
degree on an “Art appreciation” basis, and because of the beauty and mystery that it represents to me. Many things I buy to study
and learn more about them and the cultures that they come from, but they are object forms that I personally find intriguing and enjoy.
I know that I don't have African masterpieces in my collection to share with people, but the most important thing I do have to share with
people is my passion for African art, which is not a copy or reproduction, it's 100% authentic. I am slowly working to upgrade the level
of my collection as I can.
I collect what interests ME, and I understand that my collection may not appeal to all African collectors. I also understand that my
collecting philosophy may not resonate with everyone out there as well, everyone has their thoughts about how one should collect and
what one should collect and it is my opinion that people should collect what they want, how they want, but people should be educated
collectors and educated consumers. I am always learning and always upgrading and refining my collection as I can. I do my collecting
in a very public way, and for that I feel that I have a certain degree of responsibility to people who visit my website and view objects in
my collection. I feel that the "collecting public" should have a basic overall understanding about the objects they collect.
My responsibility, in my eyes, is to convey to people that there are many levels of objects in African art out there. Many of the objects
that are on the general market today are copies of traditional objects. Many of the traditional objects these forms represent have not
been authentically produced for use by the cultures that would have traditionally used them for many, many years because the
cults/groups that produced these items no longer exist, and their belief systems are no longer in place, largely due to the influence of
missionaries and other religious groups around the world. Many of the old and rare objects that are popular in the high end market
place are reproduced, in varied quality, and sold on the general market.
These objects are created and made to look much older than they actually are because this is the demand of the collecting market. I
have personally witnessed a newer object undergo a total transformation within the course of a day. It was a fresh unfinished piece of
wood in the morning and by the afternoon, or a few days later, it looks like it had been ritually used for decades. Objects have been
made specifically for the collecting market for over a hundred years. As soon as the cultures in Africa saw that there was a demand for
the objects, masks and other things they produced they made a business out of it and that "business" has slowly grown and become
more and more advanced over the years. Now sometimes it is hard for the experts to determine what is authentic and what is a
reproduction.
As long as an object is represented as truthfully as possible, I personally do not feel that owning a piece that is a stylistically good
representation of a traditional form is a bad thing, some people will agree and others will disagree. I personally can not afford an
authentic Fang Nlo Byeri head or a Luba bowstand or a Lengola figure, but that should not mean that I can not appreciate the form
and meaning behind them in a figure that is a nice stylistic representation of these objects as long as I know what the difference is.
Does it mean that I should not buy and enjoy an object that is made to represent the authentic examples out there if I want to? Should
I only enjoy these objects in museums and in books? For me the answer is no.
What I do feel is wrong is when people misrepresent objects as being "very old" or "tribally used" or "collected in the early 1900's"
when they know for a fact that is not the truth, or they say it is an estimate on their part. This practice is misleading and terribly wrong
in my eyes, especially to newer collectors who don't know any different. I will never make any of these kinds of statements about
objects in my collection, or items I am selling unless I am 100% sure. I am slowly going through my website and updating the
comments about the objects in my collection and putting my personal thoughts about them on the pages, but this is a time consuming
process and I am working on it as I can. I will try and provide good examples of the type of object in my collection on the pages on my
site for that object, I do this to show people what a good example should look like in my opinion.
The goal of my website and my discussion group is to teach people how to start to identify the "good" from the "bad" and hopefully
inspire them to learn more about what they collect and become educated consumers. I admit upfront and honestly that I collect quite a
few objects that are copies of original traditional objects, and I am comfortable with my collecting choices. Authenticity is something
that I do look for when I can, and my ultimate goal is to move towards collecting many authentic pieces, but still pieces that I can afford
and enjoy. You pay more for authentic and documented pieces, and that is a trade off you must be willing to take into consideration as
a collector growing your collection. I am still a young collector, I have only been collecting for about 5 years now.
If your goal is to only collect old an authentic objects, I can help by referring you to dealers whom I trust and dealers who carry only
these types of objects. You can collect authentic objects and not spend a lot of money if you wish to collect small utilitarian objects
such as Ethiopian headrests, spoons, dolls, small Lobi figures and objects like that. If you wish to collect old and authentic Fang
objects, Luba objects and objects from other well known and sought after cultures then you should work with a trusted source,
because old and authentic objects can often times come with large price tags. Authentic objects don't always have to cost an arm and
a leg to obtain, just beware of stories that go along with pieces about their age and so on, especially from many objects that are
misrepresented on places like eBay. If you are paying a few thousand dollars for a mask or a statue, then you better know what you
are doing, or have implicit trust in the person you are dealing with and it is often times a good idea to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion.
My thoughts are that you should collect what you want, old or new, authentic or reproductions, but collect what you like and try to be
an educated collector and an educated consumer. Go out there and learn from others, talk to people, read books and look at
examples, visit museums and learn about the objects you enjoy. Developing your eye takes time, and it takes looking at many, many
different objects from all kinds of different sources to start to be able to determine what is good and what is bad. Develop relationships
with other collectors and dealers out there, get to know them and you can learn a lot!
I highly recommend that you read the fantastic article called "Authenticity of African Sculptures" by Henri Kamer
I think you will enjoy it, and it may bring many interesting things to your attention. (link will open in a new window)
Often times you will see that I post images of published and older pieces underneath the photos of my piece. I do this to share these
images with people so they know what old and traditional pieces look like. Generally these pieces are some of my favorites of their
type and I want to share these images with others. These pieces are usually from museums and important collections, and they are
mainly for visual reference for people.
Every piece of African Art is an individual creation... and we are as individual as the pieces we collect. I may not fully understand
everything there is to know about a group of people and the art/objects they produce, but I enjoy learning as much as I can about a
particular piece that I find intriguing, and sometimes the story behind a piece adds a great deal to the beauty I see in it. I also enjoy
learning about and collecting more modern pieces that are based on older traditions that are still being used in Africa today, like my
Bamana puppets.
My website started out as a way for me to take my collection to work with me so I could view it and enjoy it through out the day. Then it
became a place where I would keep some of my favorite examples of different objects I was interested in that I would use for reference
when I was buying something. Then it became a place for me to keep articles and reference materials easily accessible for me, and it
has grown and grown over the past 2 years. It is now a place for me to share my passion with others, and has hopefully become a
good reference site for other collectors who wish to pursue knowledge on items they are interested in. I don’t have the largest
collection or the nicest collection out there, but it is my passion. I have tried to fill my site with pictures and as much knowledge as I can
pull together about a piece and what it was used for. When I can, I will also try to include a picture of a piece being danced or shown in
ceremonial context.
I think what is most important to me about my website is the information content. I was NOT blessed with the ability to write very well,
so most of what you see on my site is taken from various reference sources and I have tried (not so good in the past, but good now)
to cite these reference sources on my website and continue to go back through and cite ones that I originally didn't when I started my
website. I try and put content in my site that I personally feel describes a piece or describes what objects may have originally been
used for. There are many different views and there is a lot of incomplete research out there, so what I put on my site is not the gospel
truth, it is just the interpretation that I personally enjoy the best. When I first started collecting I would search through books and the
Internet in search of information and pictures, and one of my goals for my site is to be able to make accessible to others some of the
information I found to be most helpful to me, and have my site be a good reference point for other collectors or people interested in
African Art. I generally won't put information about things that I don't own or collect on my site unless it happens to be on one of my
You Be the Judge pages in my Educational section.
Google highly ranks my site in searches by people on items that are contained on my website so I feel that the information content on
my site needs to be as accurate, interesting and informative as possible. I am constantly working on the information content of my site
and I have stacks upon stacks of things that I will slowly add as I get time.
From time to time I will sell items from my collection as I am always in the process of upgrading my collection or I will sell items to help
support my collection fund.
My collection is self supporting, meaning that if I have a piece that I want to buy I will usually sell a piece or two or three from my
collection to help pay for it. I will also sell things to help support my collection fund, and some of these items may not have been in my
collection for a long period of time or they were specifically purchased by me to sell, but they are items that I choose because they are
nice items in my eye and items I wouldn't mind having in my own collection and feel they would be nice pieces for other collectors.
Items I sell are of varied quality, as I like to be able to sell things for the new collector who doesn't want to spend a lot of money or is
just looking for something decorative for their home and also items of a better quality for the intermediate collector who is a more
educated consumer and knows what they are buying and what they like. I am always willing to give people my honest and open
opinion about anything I am selling. Depending on what kind of object you are looking for, what I tell you about an object I am selling
may discourage you from buying it or it may re-enforce your initial attraction to the object. One thing is that I am always as honest and
up front about an object as I can be and my intention is to never misrepresent an object in my collection or an object that I am selling. I
like to surround myself with items that I find aesthetically pleasing, so even though I may buy something with the specific intent to sell
it, the object is usually something that I will enjoy displaying in my house until it does sell. Everything I buy ends up displayed in the
house at one point or another, I like to keep my collection constantly changing and interesting.
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Thanks for taking your time to read this, I hope that it will help you understand me and my collection a little better.
* Also - I have just added to my website a few of my thoughts on the topic of authenticity. CLICK HERE to go to the page
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