Why and What We Collect--A Tale of Two Barung

RSWORD · 23rd August 2014, 01:38 AM

Hi Ian,

Personally I would date the barong slightly earlier but hey we are only talking 10-20 years and in the case of the piece in question a rather insignificant difference. I am digressing from the original question and am happy to provide my own point of view on my collecting philosophy.

For me, it has been a journey that seems ever evolving. I was quite young when I first started and I simply thought they were cool. Didn't really know anything about those first pieces but they were cool. I have always been a collector and treasure hunter. It started with comics and baseball cards and excursions into my grandmothers attic. So I think some of that was carrying over into my young adult years. So after starting out with 4-5 pieces that I knew absolutely nothing about I ran across a book on the subject. Lo and behold one of my early swords was in the book. How cool was that! That sparked a desire to learn more so over the next decade or so I started going to shows, getting more books, meeting more collectors and my knowledge and more importantly my appreciation for these objects began to grow. Herein lies the trap. The more I learn the more I appreciate. The more I appreciate the more fun the treasure hunt. The occasional great buy feeds the treasure hunt to do it again. So again, I am in a damn perpetual cycle of hunting, acquiring and appreciating these objects. Through research on these items I have learned more about history and other cultures than I ever did in school. So that speaks a bit about how I got here. As far as a collecting philosophy I don't have one. I tend to gravitate towards certain regions or style of weapons so I have never been able to narrow the focus to one thing. If something catches my eye and I have the means at that time to get it then that is what I do. My philosophy is to fully learn and appreciate these ethnographic objects for their historical significance, their cultural significance, their artistic significance and finally their quality of craftsmanship. Doing that feeds that inner collector child except instead of Fantastic Four, Thor, Avengers and the Justice League it's Tibetan Ke Tri, Ottoman shamshir, Moro Kalis and Indian Tulwar. I am interested in seeing where this evolves for me in 20 years. I have a feeling the vicious cycle will continue!

23rd August 2014, 01:38 AM	#11
RSWORD Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 1,083	Hi Ian, Personally I would date the barong slightly earlier but hey we are only talking 10-20 years and in the case of the piece in question a rather insignificant difference. I am digressing from the original question and am happy to provide my own point of view on my collecting philosophy. For me, it has been a journey that seems ever evolving. I was quite young when I first started and I simply thought they were cool. Didn't really know anything about those first pieces but they were cool. I have always been a collector and treasure hunter. It started with comics and baseball cards and excursions into my grandmothers attic. So I think some of that was carrying over into my young adult years. So after starting out with 4-5 pieces that I knew absolutely nothing about I ran across a book on the subject. Lo and behold one of my early swords was in the book. How cool was that! That sparked a desire to learn more so over the next decade or so I started going to shows, getting more books, meeting more collectors and my knowledge and more importantly my appreciation for these objects began to grow. Herein lies the trap. The more I learn the more I appreciate. The more I appreciate the more fun the treasure hunt. The occasional great buy feeds the treasure hunt to do it again. So again, I am in a damn perpetual cycle of hunting, acquiring and appreciating these objects. Through research on these items I have learned more about history and other cultures than I ever did in school. So that speaks a bit about how I got here. As far as a collecting philosophy I don't have one. I tend to gravitate towards certain regions or style of weapons so I have never been able to narrow the focus to one thing. If something catches my eye and I have the means at that time to get it then that is what I do. My philosophy is to fully learn and appreciate these ethnographic objects for their historical significance, their cultural significance, their artistic significance and finally their quality of craftsmanship. Doing that feeds that inner collector child except instead of Fantastic Four, Thor, Avengers and the Justice League it's Tibetan Ke Tri, Ottoman shamshir, Moro Kalis and Indian Tulwar. I am interested in seeing where this evolves for me in 20 years. I have a feeling the vicious cycle will continue!