African Art Club

nordend says:

I got many reactions by email, please find some below:

To Everyone Concerned:

I am replying on my husband’s account. He was so horrified at the outrage people expressed at the dirt and dust, that he showed me the pictures and the son’s reply. What on earth is wrong with these people? I am 31, and about to go bankrupt myself due to health problems associated with Celiac disease. The collection is absolutely gorgeous and should be considered a wet dream. If I had the cash, I would buy every single piece of jewellery shown in the pics. Dust wipes off. Jewellery can be polished. Furthermore, if the individuals offended are so elite, they can just order their servants to clean the new pieces. When you go to a museum, and look at all the pretty things behind the glass, remember how much of that came out of the ground, the dirt itself. And when you’re older, and your body starts to crap out on you, and the medical bills just pile up and up with no end in sight and no way to pay, and you can’t afford to have servants cleaning up after you, I hope you look back on this experience and realize just how shallow and petty you were being over an issue that, if anything, will only serve to lower the price, making this collection an excellent investment, as, once everything is cleaned and polished, its value can only increase.

To the son, I am deeply sorry for your loss, and even sorrier for the callousness and pettiness that you have had to endure during this painful time. David Norden, you owe no one an apology, we owe you and the estate holder one, and since no one else will give it, I will.

Sincerely,
Mark and Julie January

(P.S. Seriously, though, what is the pricing on the jewellery like? It’s gorgeous!)

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No apology needed. I agree with the son and your observation. So, again…no apology needed.
Wes Robison
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Good for Alan. I’m really happy that he wrote that. That is exactly how I feel, when people try to tell me that my step-father’s collection (Jean-Pierre Hallet) is not as good as they think it should be. I’ve been studying African Art since I was a child, and as you put it so elequently – There is “Gold among the Dust”.

Sincerely,

Janou Lightning
africanartsetc.com
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I cannot believe how rude some people can be….my husband and I were looking at the photos of the sale and wishing we were in NY so we could attend this sale. It is amazing how much a person can collect and what an interesting person he must have been. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Sincerely,
Dayna Griego
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I not only like this edition : I love it.
And I love this definition “treasure-inventor”
in the Laprugne’s interview.
Franco
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Dear Mr. NORDEN

I agree with your client (the nephew of the old man) that amongst all these objects, presented “en vrac” as the French would put it, some pieces are collection items (the PLATH sextant is a very good example ) .
But apart from that very sound remark, the reaction of many has nothing to do with “snobery” , as so many of them would love to find authentic African artefacts in the most unusual places and conditions, particularly outside of well-runned gallerys on Madison or “Les Sablons” (and I would be the first of them) .
No , their reaction is “unsnobby” and only motivated by the fact that it surprising to see such an “Estate collection” and whatever its artistic and economic value, being presented to amateurs by a specialist of primitive art (and I totally share this opinion) . This collection has nothing or so little to do with primitive art, it was the responsibility of the primitive art specialist , either to discard or to select the very few pieces which could match his specialty .

Now this is my personal opinion and I don’t feel furious , nor a “victim”, I just consider the first and only victim of such a mistake, is the specialist himself who endangers his own image and reputation .

With kindest regards .

Patrick WORMSER
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Mr. Norden,
Your response was appropriate, but the apology was not necessary. You obviously
expected too much of many of your readers who place trying to show off how smart they
are over common courtesy and decorum.

As for Alan, “a proud son,” he may not know all there is to know about antiquities but
he is certainly not ignorant of the duplicity in marketing art.
Sincerely yours,
George Nelson Preston, Ph. D.
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No apology required. I enjoyed reading your message and the heartfelt letter from son Alan. I am a true believer that it is possible to find gems amongst junk —- because I have done so!
Jackson McDonald
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David,
Thanks for both these emails. I am an Australian living in London. I have collected tribal textiles and oceanic art for 25 years here and in Australia.
I once sent £2500 with a US dealer but most of the time I never had that sort of money to collect except by going to flea markets and junk shops.
I enjoy seeing the objects in Paris and New York dealers and auction web sites but I can’t afford to buy from them.

So I enjoyed and had sympathy with the emails you have sent today.
Good luck with your business.
Thanks, John.
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one of your best emails…thanks for taking the time to remind folk to be human…i was just thinking how cruel and coward people are with making their mean electronic comments, hiding behind their safe cyber walls…
dr. koura
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Well done – I agree with you and the son. I wish I was in New York – not London – because I would be going to the auction – and not with gloves either.

Roy Anderson
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Dear David,
Thanks a lot for your mail, you are 100% right.
Unfortunately a lot of people dont take the time and the excitement to try to find a good piece in the middle of what they call ” Junk piece”.
I can see in the Alan father collection some very interessing pieces, the dust and dirt around is nothing, is like a treasure hunt.
I give all my support to Alan.
I am very geatfull to you for the enormous time you spent to promote the “African Art” . It is all the time with a great interest and pleasure i read you.
I plan to see you in my next visit to Belgium, i will bring you one of the best south african wine to share.
With all my respect.
Philippe Calonne, General Manager from Epako game lodge in Namibia.
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David,
Thank you for sticking up for this auction.
All the snobs owe this gentleman’s son an apology.
Have gloves, will dig.
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I really don’t know why you are apologizing; you said it was a non-professional sale, and it *is* fun to actually bank your experience against an unknown quantity of material with a torch and gloves. As an archaeologist I can state with certainty that the dirt contains the best of everything: ‘where there’s muck there’s brass (money)’ as they say in northern England. I fear the son is right: those who view themselves as the elite are in fact merely ignorant snobs.

Keep posting emails like that one, and ignore the gibberings of the misinformed.

Lawrence
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Dear David
I absolutely loved the the pictures from the old mans apartment
very best
Tal R
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David, Why would you forward the negative reactions/comments to the son of the owner of the collection??? I doubt you were wanting to insult him, but you must realize that he certainly could have taken it as an insult. Reading his reply, it seems he felt he was being insulted.

If collectors are so arrogant that they can’t see through the dust … or the “presentation” isn’t to their liking, then that’s is their problem. I can imagine some arrogant bastard actually going to Africa to try to search out old artifacts … he’d want the floors swept before he walked on them.

I’m in Venice, California, and if I was New York, I would go to look at the items. A few pieces in the photos caught my eye.

I’m glad you have followed up with comments about making discoveries among junk. It’s so true. I have found some awesome antiques (of many varieties) among junk (literally among junk).

Thanks !!

John P. Jones
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I think the apology owed is to the son not to your customers.
Steve Horswill Seattle
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