Gallery

Comments

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  Joost Daalder August 13, 2011 at 7:10pm

  Excellent!
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  Linda Pastorino August 14, 2011 at 9:24am

  Of this particular style,  i think these are the best examples I have seen. I saw them thirty years ago with my friends as an add they did and then they were never for sale. So finally I got to deal them and they also sold quickly.  I would have loved to own them myself but these things are very expensive now.
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  Joost Daalder August 14, 2011 at 12:19pm

  I agree, Linda - EXTRAORDINARY silver work!
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  Marie-Ange August 18, 2011 at 6:41pm

  I owed a similar pair years ago but they were very uncomfertable to wear so I sold them.  They look great though!
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  Joost Daalder August 19, 2011 at 2:47am

  That's where you, Marie-Ange, and Truus and I, show ourselves such different collectors, each with their own rationale. If you want to be able to wear things which are also very good, then the "price" that you pay is that automatically you will sell off some very good pieces. That is no risk with us: we keep all the best pieces as "works of art", and only sell off some every now and then that we have "outgrown", are duplicates, have found an improved version of, etc. So, actually, the artistic/cultural level keeps improving. But ... the price that WE pay is that (a) most of the pieces don't get worn, and (b) in case of sale we are very dependent on collectors. That cuts two ways, though: (a) the number of people you can sell to if the piece is unwearable is smaller, but (b) those who seriously collect do pay big prices, as they really do want the best - pieces of real quality, in ALL price ranges (not only high-ticket items), and preferably rarity as well. Tribal authenticity is almost a must: hence the item should show good signs of having been worn within the tribal context, and having been made for that. This does mean buying quite selectively, and in truth it means you really want the pieces for yourself, for, although they can, of course, be sold, you may have to wait some time for the right buyer to turn up. I do think, however, that interest in ethnic jewellery AS ART is growing, and that even the "wearers" are becoming more interested in buying examples from specific cultures rather than just an assembly of components which may come from all sorts of places. You yourself, Marie-Ange, are a good example of a "wearer" who does also want to know what she is wearing and prefers that not only to look good but also to have a good cultural background.
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  Joost Daalder August 19, 2011 at 3:22am

  For "investment" in ethnic jewellery - and I stress that we do NOT buy for that purpose! - the safest thing to buy would obviously be a piece that (a) is attractive to wear and that many women are craving to wear (a strong sales factor), while (b) the piece also strongly appeals to a collector of jewellery as "ethnic art", i.e. is very attractive or expressive artistically, well designed, well made, shows clear signs of having been worn within the culture, and is preferably at least fairly rare, but definitely identifiable (unidentified objects are very hard to sell). If ALL these factors are present, there will be many people wanting the piece, which obviously pushes up the price. If, moreover, the piece has so far been mostly overlooked but likely to become more popular, then the potential is big. In most cases that will not be the case: the piece will be already well-known. However, there are always discrepancies. Really good Moroccan and Algerian jewellery is currently very popular, which means that prices have risen steeply, and at some point will move more slowly. There is still a significant number of pieces of Oceanic jewellery which are in many cases as - or more - important culturally, and which are relatively unknown, world-wide. These are certainly gaining in price as cultural artefacts, but some are highly wearable as well. Yet many are still cheap, and their rarity is often underrated. The best-known, most rare and beautiful Oceanic pieces are now fairly widely known, and fetch prices - even though the objects are not made of precious metals - that leave prices for North African jewellery far behind. Such is the intricacy of markets. I predict that many good Oceanic pieces of adornment will rise significantly in price during the next ten years. Oceania is a very "strong" as a market, as its best objects are limited in number, of great artistic quality, and it is situated in the fastest-growing area of the world (as Australia is). The buyers are, often, from Europe and the US - it enjoys worldwide support. There is also quite a bit of Asian jewellery still underrated, in my view, which people in Europe and North America - who often seem to think that ethnic jewellery = North African - don't look at enough.
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  Patricia Deany August 19, 2011 at 3:25am

  They are very sculptural, true works of art.
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  Joost Daalder August 19, 2011 at 3:32am

  Exactly, Patricia, and that is one reason why they are extremely attractive to collect even for non-wearers like Truus and me.