I was watching Antiques Roadshow, marvelling at what people collect and what others will pay when I got to thinking…
So here’s the question…
If a millionaire offered to buy you one antique thing what would you pick?
The catches are
It has to be something one could buy. For instance, you couldn’t say “I want the Mona Lisa,” 'cause they’d never sell that, although you could say “I’d like to own a painting by Leonardo da Vinci” (If there indeed are any left that are on the market
You’d have to pick it 'cause you want it NOT because you’d want to sell it.
I remember when I was a wee little shaver, I saw a beautiful statue of an elephant made out of Ivory. I know ivory isn’t poltically correct, and I hate the thought of an elephant killed to make ivory but that was beautiful.
I don’t know if this counts as ‘antique’ but I want a vintage Moog modular synth. I don’t care if I have no idea how to play it, I’ll LEARN how to play it.
I would like the gun that Adolf Hitler killed himself with. I really dunno why, I don’t own a single gun. But the gun that killed Hitler would be cool to have.
If that’s not available, then something owned by Thomas Jefferson, preferably a pen that he wrote with.
I started to say a piece of fabulous estate jewelry – something with diamonds and sapphires in platinum – but I’d rather have something I could enjoy every day.
So I thought of a grand piano, but I am a mediocre pianist at best, and thought that would be a waste.
I decided on a piece of artwork. I’m very fond of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tedema, and this piece, which belongs to the Cleveland Museum of Art and was on display before their big redo, is a lovely little thing. It or something of its size would do quite nicely.
Then, I found this. In no way an antique, but an artistic curiosity blending piano + Alma-Tadema. Kinda ugly, if you ask me, but unusual!
Yes, there are several still flyable – even in the U.S. Although I’m not current, I’m licensed. I can get training in T-6s, which were used to train P-51 pilots. There’s a Mk.IX trainer (IIRC, it’s ex-Irish Air Force) that was in Southern Oregon many years ago. I assume it’s still around somewhere. If I had a Spit, then It’s likely the owner might be persuaded to allow me training in it for the transition to type. (Or there are P-51s available.)
Oooh! OOOHHH! One of those mineral oil lamps from the '70’s. You know, with the Greekish statue in the middle and the fishing line looking stuff that the oil “drips” down…
Such the fashion statement in the mid the late 1970’s in certain circles.
I would pay some coin for one of those, even though I know it would be in the garage or the shop…
I only wonder how many of them they would have sold if the statue would have been of Princess Leia. – OK - Nobody steal my retro marketing idea!
Ah, the thing that the Batmobile would be, if Batman was a pimp.
But what would I take? I think a Luger would go well with Nazi Blood Flag and helmet that Grandad brought home. Any kind of Civil War artifact would be cool, like a rifle, or a genuine uniform, or some such. I could certainly go for a genuine ancient Egyptian statue, one of those heavy duty jobs, made for a Pharaoh, carved out of a single block of diorite. A pipe organ would be cool, too.
When all is said and done, I’d have to go with the Luger. It goes with some stuff that I already have, and I have a place to put it.
Ever since I read William Gibson’s novel Pattern Recognition I’ve wanted a Curta. They’re not even that expensive, and they rock: a hand-held mechanical calculator designed in WWII by a Jew in a concentration camp in order to win his life. Amazing story.
A suit of Elizabethan-era tournament armor. The kind with beautiful etching and gilded inlays and blued steel; something like the Armor of George Clifford.
That armor is the best armor I’ve ever seen. I doubt it could be bought, since it’s at the Met. museum of art; I doubt there’s another suit of armor in private hands that’s as beautiful; but if there is, somewhere in Europe in some nobleman’s house, and he’d be willing to part with it, that’s what I’d get. (I’d make sure it was my size, too.)
