.
Over on the petition hounding a certain New York dealer accused of mixing fakes with real dugups, after Dealer Dave's exhortation, it seems the collectors' flock is scattering and blundering about butting blindly. Now we have a "Mr. Subramaniam Iyer, VA" sharing his reminiscences in the comments. It seems when he started collecting antiquities he bought for $280 a thing from a "seller at GoAntiques" (sic) whose
name he only foggily recalls. He thought he'd bought a "cylinder seal from Syria" (presumably it had a fake export licence as well), but it was a fake. He therefore has some understanding of "how frustrated
anybody can be, when they learn that the artefact that they've acquired
by spending their hard earned money is a fake and isn't worth anything".
More than feeling bad about the money lost, the collector felt "more dissappointed about the fact that someone can betray my trust to make a quick buck". He probably also felt more than a little stupid.
The collector asks rhetorically whether it is "a sin if somebody wishes to pursue his/her passion of studying, collecting and enjoying artefacts of one's area of interest". I'd like to know how anyone thinks they can "study" something without knowing anything about what the evidence you'd use to do that actually would look like. I suspect that when these people talk about "studying" something, they actually have something else in mind compared to the way the rest of us would use the term.
He ends by adding the reflection, odd in the context of what this document is supposed to be:
Now I have a plea for Subramaniam Iyer. NEVER buy cylinder seals or any other dugup antiquity from Syria without documentary proof that it left the country legally and before the current conflict, otherwise he will be buying blood antiquities. In fact, given that some are claiming that the government is involved, a responsible collector would at the moment stay well clear of any antiquities of Syrian origin, completely. Would not buying Blood Antiquities or looted items and having them at home not be a greater source of 'mental anguish' for some collectors than inadvertently acquiring something made in a backstreet lapidiary workshop a few years ago?
Over on the petition hounding a certain New York dealer accused of mixing fakes with real dugups, after Dealer Dave's exhortation, it seems the collectors' flock is scattering and blundering about butting blindly. Now we have a "Mr. Subramaniam Iyer, VA" sharing his reminiscences in the comments. It seems when he started collecting antiquities he bought for $280 a thing from a "seller at GoAntiques" (sic) whose
name he only foggily recalls. He thought he'd bought a "cylinder seal from Syria" (presumably it had a fake export licence as well), but it was a fake. He therefore has some understanding of "how frustrated
anybody can be, when they learn that the artefact that they've acquired
by spending their hard earned money is a fake and isn't worth anything". I'm still uncomfortable with the thought, that somewhere, somebody even now, who's just started to collect and learn about things that he/she is passionate about, is being duped by unscruplous dealers [....] to make a quick buck.I hope and pray they don't undergo the same mental agony that I did a few years ago, when I started collecting.
More than feeling bad about the money lost, the collector felt "more dissappointed about the fact that someone can betray my trust to make a quick buck". He probably also felt more than a little stupid.
The collector asks rhetorically whether it is "a sin if somebody wishes to pursue his/her passion of studying, collecting and enjoying artefacts of one's area of interest". I'd like to know how anyone thinks they can "study" something without knowing anything about what the evidence you'd use to do that actually would look like. I suspect that when these people talk about "studying" something, they actually have something else in mind compared to the way the rest of us would use the term.
He ends by adding the reflection, odd in the context of what this document is supposed to be:
I think this petition is a collective effort in the right direction in teaching these crooks a lesson. I think sites like ebay and goAntiques also should be sent these kind of petitions which will force them to crack down on these kind of dubious sellers.In what way is such a petition a way to "teach these crooks a lesson"? Does the collector imagine the dealer cringing in a dark corner with tears of repentance streaming down his face? In what way does he imagine eBay would react to a petition with sixty signatures to "do something about the antiquities"? They will say that they simply act as a venue for advertisement, and are not themselves directly legally responsible for the items offered by the people selling through them. If Subramaniam Iyer has been collecting with his eyes and ears open for more than three weeks, he will no doubt have come across this issue.
Now I have a plea for Subramaniam Iyer. NEVER buy cylinder seals or any other dugup antiquity from Syria without documentary proof that it left the country legally and before the current conflict, otherwise he will be buying blood antiquities. In fact, given that some are claiming that the government is involved, a responsible collector would at the moment stay well clear of any antiquities of Syrian origin, completely. Would not buying Blood Antiquities or looted items and having them at home not be a greater source of 'mental anguish' for some collectors than inadvertently acquiring something made in a backstreet lapidiary workshop a few years ago?
No comments:
Post a Comment