Why Collect Antiquities?

I have been collecting antiquities since the age of thirteen after accidentally discovering an ancient neolithic settlement on my father's farm in the North of Cyprus. Following the advice of my grandfather, an amateur archeologist, I spent many hours in the islands libraries, reading about ancient art. I never understood prehistory and the meaning of the European round circles, and concepts such as human sacrifice, until I read into stone age civilizations. Before then, they made no sense to my modern way of thinking. Although I moved to the UK and studied medicine, working as a consultant for some ten years, my fascination with ancient art perpetuated. I have now been involved in ancient art as a dealer-collector for over fifteen years and have seen many changes in the world of collecting. This, coupled with the fact that I am frequently asked "Why collect antiquities?", has convinced me to write about the subject. Collecting antiquities is a very pleasurable activity, one that also offers great investment potential.

Putting a collection together gives one a superb sense of achievement. The collection closely reflects the tastes of the individual and his or her perception of the world in the wider sense. A collection of ancient art constitutes an intellectual bridge between the past and the present, in a way that makes it comprehendible for most of us. For some it may also constitute a way of coping with adverse life factors, such as the death of a loved one. I know of a few collectors who started collecting ancient art after a family bereavement. Probably the most famous such collector was the Father of Psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. Freud started collecting antiquities in Vienna shortly after his father's death in 1896.

Freud is the classic example of a collector driven by passion and a sense of belonging associated with collecting antiquities. He was extremely fond of his antiquities collection which consisted mostly of Greek, Egyptian, Middle-Eastern and Chinese artefacts. He had over 2000 individual pieces. His favourite artefact was a small statue of Minerva, in bronze. Goddess of Wisdom and War and Protectress of Athens (Athena), Freud saw the goddess overseeing his life.

Freud often compared his psychoanalysis to archaeology - to him revealing the inner psyche was like digging through various layers of soil to find a buried artefact.

In his own personal collection of antiquities he saw a representation of wisdom through the ages. He always had a group of his favourite figurines stood on his professional desk. He considered them to be a representation of his ancestors. Very often during his work he would stop and lovingly stroke his statuettes. I have had similar admissions from contemporary collectors. In fact one highly successful dealer that I know actually kisses some quality artefacts before he sells them! His way of saying good-bye to a treasured friend! Freud also had the habit of bringing a new acquisition to the dining table as a "guest of honour" during the meal, and would return the artefact to his desk afterwards. Freud chose to die in his study surrounded by his cherished antiquities. Upon his death, his family arranged for his ashes to be placed in a Greek Vase. His daughter Anna left the contents of the room undisturbed; these now constitute the basis of a public museum.

Axel Guttmann was almost certainly the most powerful and exemplary collector of antiquities that the last century had ever known. Right up to his untimely death on the 28th of October 2001, he had set ideals in ancient art collecting by private individuals, that in some instances could even be said to have surpassed the standards set in some state museums. Axel's Berlin Home housed his collection in a museum-like display, offering generous access to academic scholars and collectors alike. He was a man of great vision, being patron to the Royal Berlin Museums for over twenty five years, supporting their financial and other activities, as well as loaning personal collection material for their exhibits.

He loved collecting ancient militaria, and to his credit, studied such artefacts with the scholastic dedication of an academic, publishing innumerable papers in this area. A very intelligent man with broad interests in life, he was also a passionate collector of fine wine, furniture, paintings, and porcelain - as well as militaria and ancient weapons. His ancient weapon collection in particular was highly impressive, containing a large number of objects from early Europe, the Mediterranean, and Near East. An all embracing cultural feat, dating from the 3rd millennium BC to the late Roman Period.

Bidancient, my company, has been highly privileged and fortunate to have acquired Axel Guttmann's entire collection of Ancient Bronze Arrowheads dating from the 2nd millennium BC to the early 1st millennium BC. In addition, we have acquired a number of top quality Helmets and Swords from this highly important collection, from top English and German auction houses.

Another 20th Century exemplary collector, this time from the UK, is Desmond Morris. Desmond Morris began collecting antiquities from Cyprus in 1967. He is an outstanding example of a passionate collector and lover of art who managed to successfully convert his hobby into a very lucrative financial project. Author of a series of books such as "The Naked Ape", Desmond Morris is better known to most of us as an expert on human behaviour, zoologist, surrealist artist, lecturer and broadcaster. However, this extremely gifted man fell in love with the archaeology of ancient Cyprus. In his own words: "It started the moment I walked into Room Two of the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and for the first time set eyes on the amazing objects produced 4000 years ago by the Bronze Age Cypriot artists, their bold self-confidence in experimenting with novel shapes, their exuberant sense of sculptural humour and their imaginative verve in developing highly stylised forms were a revelation."

Morris purchased Cypriot antiquities from salerooms and dealers in the UK, Europe, and the USA. He eventually amassed over 1100 mainly pottery artefacts from Bronze Age Cyprus. There can be little doubt that the Cypriot Bronze Age Potter was one of the most advanced and imaginative in the ancient world. Many of the antiquities in the Morris Collection could be traced back to famous collectors such as Lt. Gen. Pitt-Rivers in the UK, and Luigi Palma di Cesnola in the USA. It was not long before Morris's friend, Professor Vassos Karageorhis, then director of the Antiquities Department of the Cyprus Republic, encouraged him to publish his collection and make it available to academics and collectors alike. Hence Morris's resoundingly successful Oxford publication "The Art of Ancient Cyprus" in 1985.

Desmond Morris writes: "While I was assembling the collection it became clear to me that I had a duty to make it accessible to archaeologists. It is indefensible for private collectors to keep ancient artefacts if they are not prepared to make them available for examination by serious scholars." Never a truer word spoken. The modern serious collector has to strive for a symbiotic and mutually supportive relationship with academic scholars and State Museums.

Desmond Morris aspired that a museum or institution would have purchased his entire collection; this did not materialize however. Instead his collection has found a home with collectors driven with a passion similar to his, and institutions such as museums, spreading the influence of Cypriot ancient art. Collecting ancient Cypriot artefacts is one of my passions and I am delighted and honoured to have acquired a considerable number of the Desmond Morris pieces, including perhaps his most important Bronze Age piece, the "Sacrificial Temple Scene". Over 190 individual lots from the Desmond Morris Collection were sold through Christie's South Kensington; see Tuesday 6th November 2001. Some of the larger pieces fetched over £35,000 sterling. The "Sacrificial Temple Scene" cost me £70,000 a few years ago, but there have been offers way in excess of that at present. Such is the financial potential of this most enjoyable hobby of ancient art collecting.

>>>Click here for the next article: Antiquities as a form of investment