Hello , May I introduce myself ?
 

Hi everyone
I have just been accepted as a member and am very pleased to have found this excellent site . I began accumulating ethnic weaponry over 40 years ago as a teenager . Really I wanted to collect European arms and armour as I was very much into the medieval period, but somehow my pocket money didnt run to it ! So instead I turned to the weird and wonderful world of ethnographic arms. At that time in England there were no arms fairs and the only places you could pick up these strange artefacts was junk shops and antique fairs & shops.. but mostly ( in my experience ) junk shops. That's because the perception of these items was as 'rubbish' . I became fascinated by them and just bought anything I could afford.. and believe me a lot was rubbish. There really were no reference books so mainly I didnt know what I was buying ... my crieria were very basic .. if it looked good and was cheap , it was for me ... I havent changed that much to this day. When arms fairs became common in England in the late 60s early 70s you still did not see a lot of ethnic stuff .. apart from Japanese swords & Pacific island clubs .. all at fantastic prices. I gradually got more into Indo Persian weapons ( at the low end of the market ! ) and slipped into African .. especially North African and Zulu . I have some on display but a lot still slumbers in the loft , most of which I intend to get out and trade in order to finance the habit .... I have toyed with the idea of opening a clinic to cure collectors of the addiction .. I reckon I could make a fortune from many wives !
By profession I am a horticultural consultant and this has enabled me to travel all over the world often to remote places where I have made some interesting finds. Most weekends I can be found at military shows in England or Belgium and once a year I treat myselft to the Show of Shows in Louisville.
I have just attached a few pics of some ofmy collection .. excuse the quality of the shots , I live in a dark old house !

Hello, Welcome to the forum and I think you will be very happy here. The pictures you posted are just fine and show what looks to be a wonderful collection. I can't wait to see the rest.

Robert

Fantastic collection! If I can trouble you to post more of your takoubas, you seem to have some really good ones. As I am hopelessly addicted to them I always like to see more of them posted on the forums. THe one on the left in your images looks particularly good.

Very nice items and thanks for showing.
Warm welcome to the Forum, and I am sure you will enjoy being here. :)
Regards Stu

Hi there - I enjoyed your introduction and now look forward to seeing your favorite pieces in detail.

Regards,
Teodor

Thanks Robert that is very kind .

Thank you Iain .. that is very kind of you to say so . I am keen on Takoubas too though I am no expert , I am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge on them on this forum , I have suffered from a dearth of such info over the last 30 years or so ! Will certainly post more pics of them in due course.

Thank you Stu

Thank you Teodor

Hi and Welcome,
I look forward to seeing more of the Madu and some of those Tulwars. Believe me this is definitely the best place for a person with your 'affliction', you will find a lot of varied and like minded empathetic souls gather regularly here to sate their incurable addictions. Once again welcome.
Regards,
Norman.

Welcome to the forum :)
... and your collection, too ;) .

Welcome
 

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. Judging from your collection, you will be a great asset to this forum.

Freddy ;)

Hi Thinreadline,

Wonderful collection! :) It is nice to see the armour component so well-represented (my own collection tends to be disproprotionately filled with "arms" and light on the armour)... I especially like your collection of dhals.

I am curious to know how you fixed your pieces to what appears to be a cinderblock wall.

Anyway, welcome to the forum. I guess my only other question would be, why did it take you so long to find this place? :D

Thank you Norman , I am enjoying the site immensly

Thank you Fernando

Thank you Freddy

Thank you very much , I am very keen on dhals , most of them collected 30 years or more ago. Oh but you have mortally hurt my feelings .. cinder block walls .. in my ancient house ! .. you have brought tears to my eyes !
No the walls are perfectly solid .. I just use double nail brass picture hooks and wire.

Hi,

also from me a warm welcome! :) Nice collection.

Detlef

Yes welcome aboard and if you ever want to through those things in the garbage, let me rumage through it first please! :D

WELCOME TO THE GROUP :D
ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO ADD NEW MEMBERS THEIR KNOWLEGE AND COLLECTIONS IS WHAT MAKES THIS FORUM GROW AND MORE INFORMATION IS ADDED AND SAVED FOR POSTERITY.
WE ARE KINDRED SPIRITS AS I STARTED ABOUT THE SAME TIME AND MY COLLECTING ADDITCTION PARALLELS YOURS. I HAD ACCESS TO MORE PHILIPPINE AND SOUTH PACIFIC ITEMS SO HAD LESS AFRICAN, INDIAN AND PERSIAN THAN YOU HAD ACCESS TO IN ENGLAND. BUT MY FINANCES AND WAY OF DECIDING WHAT TO BUY WERE THE SAME. VERY NICE DISPLAY OF WEAPONS I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING MORE OF IT. :)

Welcome! Great collection.
I look forward to seeing some close-up in threads to come!!

Best
Gene

Hi Freddy ... nice to see a Belgian here .. we visit many of your shows .. esp Ostende, Ciney & Arlon , I beleive there is a new one in Gent in January . So maybe I shall see you at one of these , tot ziens !

Thanks Battara I will bear that in mind ! .. will be in Louisville hunting this coming Feb

Thanks for your kind comments Vandoo

Thank you Atlantia

Hy there... Welcome to the forum. It is sometimes even more rewarding to find a hidden treasure in some junk shop. At first glimpse there are some wonderful objects in your collection.

best regards

Tim

There are quite a few of us who also enjoy browsing the Louisville shows. We'll have to make a point to meet up. It is always nice to meet fellow enthusiasts.

Thanks very much this has been a stimulus to really look at my collection properly.

Excellent I shall look forward to that ..

Hello and welcome to the forum,

You've seen by now how exited we get seeing walls covered in weapons.
Would you happen to have any flyssa in your collection? :p :D I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to those.

Emanuel