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I suppose it is why I am continuing this excercise to raise the eye and standards for people not to settle. buy less and buy better. If they constantly see better it will sink in to most. You have a great eye,, so it's just buying less and waiting for the right stuff to come and then not to miss it if one can help it. If I can do it most can,, I don't have any real money other then what I make from this business. I had no real money growing up and so it is just one's eye and understanding to buy something good when one sees it. That's why my own collection is shrinking and I'm selling less of my own things as I have a hard time now when I consider how rare some peices are and I will not find them again.. although I have a list like others for myself yet and will no doubt sell other things to buy those missing pieces.. !
Nice thoughts , Linda, but basically this stuff does not exist anymore out of museums or treasured personal collections. I think people should buy what honestly appeals to them and what they can afford- buying outside of your means is, I think, a ticket to disaster considering the horrible financial times we are going through. Just my opinion, of course, because I still think that some wonderful treasures exist to be bought for reasonable prices -- have found some just recently online -- not necessarily one of a kind, but iconic and well loved by the former owner. Your collection is absolutely superb, it is true, but we can all love and be proud of our finds and continue to derive pleasure from them.
I think everyone has to do it as they are comfortable, there is no one recipe with collecting. My adivise though as some one who helps people find and form collections is to buy the best you can afford and buy less if it means getting better pieces.. the only reason I say this is if the collections is sold , left or donated,, usually one can get better prices for it if it is of higher quality.. this also means not every body's taste or quality concerns are the same which is fine.. and every one should enjoy and this is what it is about. I only meant for me personally this is something I have done and it's without a particularly strong budget most of my life. My clients are the ones that usually have a strong budget else I wouldn't have been able to continue seeking out these pieces.. I did it for myself without much gas but that can only go so far! especially now.
It's wonderful: but you have to come close to it to see all the beauty of the detail. Super "museum quality" piece. I would have been as keen on this as you, and personally would not have paid attention to the size ... but for you of course that did matter. It is exceptional, even from an environment where excellent belts were made. As for the general principles that you feel should apply in collecting ethnic jewellery I agree 100%, and we take the view that we would rather have one truly great piece than ten good but in a way "average" ones. And we have only come to do that more and more the older we become, because true quality always stands out. Also, if one HAS to sell, it always sells the best, and this is - unless tastes change, which does happen - the best investment. It is true that the "best" pieces are harder to come by, but they still do occur, and Truus and I have, for example, bought truly great museum quality pieces even in very recent years both from you and Michael Backman. Also from a few other dealers. And by no means all of the pieces were expensive for what they were. I'd rather not buy than lower my standards. That said, there are excellent things around, still, which often don't cost more than a few hundred dollars.