Quote:
Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
Ian, as with Jim & Bob, I am of he opinion that this would be a very worthwhile undertaking, however it is an area that is not of any interest to me at the present time --- I still have an immense amount that I need to address in my chosen field, & I simply to do not have sufficient time to diversify into a different area of study.
However, I do wish you every success in getting this initiative off the ground, the door to this field of knowledge is closing fast, anything that you might be able to do preserve some understanding before it all goes, probably forever, would be a very worthy endeavour.
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Thank you, Alan. I agree that the knowledge and skills in producing and using these old weapons is disappearing. There are, however, a significant number of items in the hands of collectors and museums. There has been a trend, promoted by some prominent dealers and financial managers, to invest in ethnographic items of indigenous peoples of the Pacific. These "financial assets" are then traded among the wealthy, including some serious collectors. As a result, they appear at auction every so often. Their provenance can be traced from auction to auction, sometimes being sold multiple times by the same auction house. This practice has clearly been happening for decades. I am speaking of conditions in Australia, of course, and I cannot speak for the wider market.
Recycling of pieces through private sales and auctions is one way of preserving them. Those weapons that come up for auction offer an opportunity to record them and create an archive here. Some of these go back to first contact between indigenous peoples and Europeans, and some even predate first contact. Most "early" examples, however, are from the 19th C. In Australia, an 18th C Aboriginal item is considered very old.
Alan, Oceanic weapons are not my primary area of interest also. However, I think this Forum should do what it can to record these diverse weapons before, as you note, many of them disappear forever.
Regards, Ian.