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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

COLLECTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

I decided to start collecting miniature chairs in a serious way after a November trip to the Philippines where I saw a miniature living room set carved out of narra wood.  I loved that set and am now hoping my brother, who traveled there for the holidays, will have a chance to find such a set and bring it back to me.  Narra wood is popularly used for furniture in the Philippines.

As a collector vs. mere acquiror of miniature chairs, I knew I needed to focus (something I learned from collecting paintings).  I've decided to focus on three elements:

1) a scale of about 1:6 (like what a Barbie doll would use) because I expect that scale, though an artificial constraint, would help create a unifying theme to the collection as a whole (and because that would allow me to include Vitra chairs which are fabulous).

2) chairs made by artists (like Sally Davies) and craftsmen.  Thus, I mostly focus on those made by individuals (I find much of these chairs on Etsy.com, which makes sense as that site focuses on hand-made objects).

3) chairs that bear a certain presence, whether from its spirit or the mark of their maker.  It's hard to explain this element but it's why most factory-mades wouldn't fit my collection as the nature of how they were made logically results in a certain sterility.  The presence of the hand--and transcendence of the hand--must make itself discernible.  I suppose an example is the Cordillera chair (though it's not featured here as a mini).

I hope the chairs I present will fit the defined parameters for creating this particular colleciton. 



[This Collector's Statement likely will be refined over time as collecting, as an art on its own, needs to be loose rather than fixed.]

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