10. Chit-Chat with the Curator: Inventory Report 02/2020

INVENTORY REPORT  02/2020 has been prepared by me, the self-appointed curator of Collectibles Corner.

I took on curatorial duties in 2006 when I started to catalog the items we had collected since 1970.  Over those years we had moved from a small house to a bigger house and regularly looked for items to cover our blank walls. When our walls were full, we still enjoyed looking in the galleries and whenever we bought something new, we moved old items to a large unused room at Chavanich Building and forgot about it.  

In 2006 the building was renovated and we had to sort out our stuff. We were amazed at how much had accumulated in the “store room”. By this time we also realized that our growing children might not share our passion for all the stuff in this collection and I hoped cataloging it all would be a good way to let them know the provenance and value of the items—which range from super cheap to rather expensive. 

Using the Tessara program by Database Solutions from Australia I started compiling data. We  picked each other’s  aging  brains for answers to questions like “WHY did YOU buy this?”, WHERE did we buy this?” “How much did we pay?” etc.  It has been an ongoing trip down memory lane!

INVENTORY REPORT  02/2020 covers the entire Collectibles Corner collection of 843 items kept at 3 locations: 2 in Bangkok and 1 upcountry.  

Paintings (296) account for 35% of the collection, Sculpture (102) 12%, Antique Silver (93) 11%. 

Archaeological Specimans (57) (e.g. ancient pots), Utensils (47) (e.g. coconut graters, opium weights) and Containers (34) (e.g. goat box, frog box, duck box) account for about 5% each. 

The next 4 categories account for 3% each: Figurines (28), Furniture (26)(e.g. chinoiserie lacquerware cabinets, sideboards, armoires), Architectural Specimans (25) (e.g. temple gable boards na baan, ventilation panels),Servingware (24) (e.g. chien mak, pedestal trays, teapots, carafes).  

The remaining 10% is split among 10 categories: Basketry (16), Prints (16), Musical Instruments (14) (e.g. bronze 2-frog drums), Weapons (13) (e.g. knife, swords, scabbard), Furnishings (12) (e.g. mirror frame, picture frame, shelf), Natural Specimans (12) (e.g. petrified wood, antlers, horns ivory), Textiles (10), Wall Hangings (8), Ceramic ware (6) and Marquetry (4).

Please note that The  Online Gallery, CollCorner.com displays only one category of collectibles from one location: 180 paintings hanging in Collectibles Corner and the Chavanich Building. To see the other collectibles, just make an appointment in advance and come along.  We are a private, non-commercial gallery and nothing is for sale– but we enjoy meeting other collectors!