Muddy Monday: Collector Gatherings

Alternate Title: How To Have Fun Without A Show Nucleus

I will intersperse personal experiences with the tips on how to organize it. Rather than a report that might inspire envy, the aim is to encourage you to arrange your own gathering, in your own neighborhood. The intent of collector gatherings is not to replace shows. If anything, it augments one's overall hobby experience. The pressure and crowding of a show is not for everyone. There are some friends I only get to see in this tour setting, because it is within their comfort level.

1. Select a geographic region that has several collectors willing to have visitors view their private collections. This is your gathering's range. Some areas of this country have four or five, all within an hour of each other.

To further qualify stops on the tour, it is most convenient if the selected collections are all out on display. Even if their collections aren't unpacked or displayed, the collectors themselves may want to participate on the tour as visitors, which is fine. It's not ideal to go box by box, although it has been done before without damage. Comfort levels are much better for everyone when the collections are behind glass and don't need to be touched.

I feel that gatherings are a fantastic way to learn, and to find new material to share with you, via this blog. I currently participate in one annual tour in the DC area. I already host a ceramics show every so often, but a multi-collection tour has a whole different vibe to it. It's an addition to the hobby experience that I love so much, I just want to make more of them happen.



2. Ideally, there is a percentage of overlap between collection foci within the tour, so that there is a chance to see variants of some editions, while also seeing the works of multiple manufacturers and artists.

For example, the DC tour has collectors with overlap in collecting Hagen-Renaker, bone chinas, European porcelains, artist resins, animal art, and custom glazes. Individuals also have unique flavors they bring to the tours, such as sci-fi and fantasy art, Native American art, canine artifacts and collectibles, bronzes, dolls, glass, and even Tiki mugs. 



3. To get everyone out together and seeing the sights, replace a show/competition with another event: a birthday celebration; an antiques show; a flea market weekend; a real horse farm tour or show.

A gathering or tour doesn't need an event to give it a reason, but it does help if everyone can get the time off from work for the same days. If weather does not permit attending an outdoor event, pick a home where everyone can meet.



4. Invite new people to participate. It's not a better gathering if it has record attendance, but it is nice to hear new opinions and see different things.

There will always be an ebb and flow of the participants each year, as their personal schedules allow. Generally speaking, those who are interested in getting together to learn and see collections tend to be over the age of 18, so we've had no concerns of liability for damage caused by a minor. We are all adults, and aware that we are personally responsible for our actions or accidents. If you start a tour, you may wish to generate a liability release and parent/guardian responsibility document if minors will be included. I only mention this because I was interested in ceramics as a minor, so there may be others out there. However, it is doubtful that grabby infants and toddlers, young children, or even adults who can't keep hands off of stuff, will be invited to such breakable events.



5. Each person is bringing their unique perspective, experiences, "sightings in the wild" of collectibles, and their items for show & tell. It's important to take turns and let everyone have the floor.



6. This sounds silly, but learn from my repeated error: carry throat lozenges. With like-minded people and no rushing to and from judging tables, you will talk a lot more than usual. You may lose your voice after a couple days of this.



7. Get an idea of everyone's food preferences and dietary restrictions in advance, so it's easier to choose restaurants or plan meals. Some gathering locales have more restaurant choices than others. Where I live is pretty limited without a minimum 30-minute drive!



8. Bring stuff. I 'd suggest bringing several types of things: gifts for everybody or personalized gifts for individuals; paper leave-behinds for future contact (business cards, etc.); show & tell from your personal collection that is best viewed in-person.

Even if you are flying to the destination, you can fit some vintage photos, or maybe photos burned on gift discs, buttons or medallions, business cards, etc. in your carry-on. Even though you are going to go see things, it's nice to bring things!

This reunion photo was possible only at a tour gathering.

These are three horses personally glazed by the sculptor, Maureen Love.

L-R: models courtesy Elizabeth Bouras, Jo Ellen Arnold, and Keith Bean.

9. Be ready to be happy and gain so much more from the gathering than you ever thought possible. You will learn new things. Mysteries will be solved by someone else's experiences that they never thought to mention before. You will see cool stuff, some of it stuff never seen by anyone but the owner. You will absolutely be surprised by something. You will wish you had a recording of it all, to play back at will.

Something unusual that you will get to see at a collection tour is a rare Hagen-Renaker family, or pair, together. As "collector's classes", a group entry of 8 or more models, have fallen out of fashion in favor of individual horse Collectibility qualifying, it is now unusual to see rare colors of families displayed together at shows. Tours are just full of them!

Models courtesy Janet Hicks.

10. Be super flexible. It takes flexibility from all parties to put together a weekend of three or more collections on a tour.



11. Mutual respect is expected, regarding photographs and any handling of collectibles. These are so important, especially in today's internet, and the sticky situations of liability for damage to handled items. If someone doesn't want to pose in a group photo, don't harry them. If they ask you to not photograph their collection or home, do not do it. It is the height of rudeness to post photos of someone's collection anywhere without their express permission. It is also grounds for exclusion from further tours. If someone gives you verbal permission to touch an item, it is OK. If none is given, the default setting is touch nothing. Don't fingerprint their glass, and don't try to open anything without asking for help.

At a show, there is tolerance for people asking if items are for sale, or what their value may be. In someone's private home, it is not cool to ask if something is for sale. Exceptions may be if the owner has told you "This group/cabinet is for sale", or you know that the owner is the source for the exact items via public sale (Special Run dealer or ceramist).

Some things are so rare and delicate that only the owner should touch them. If the owner is afraid to move the object, or move other items around it, don't press them. They know the delicacy of that particular piece best.

Model courtesy Elizabeth Bouras.

Shows are fun, but they are not the only reason to visit with friends and spend all day talking about the art and animals we love. Thank you, DC crew! The tour is the highlight of my year.

UPDATED Muddy Monday: Chestnuts Roasting

It's now after Thanksgiving, so I have no qualms about a Christmas carol snippet in the title. Today's main feature is a large mold that few have seen in person. It was sculpted for Hagen-Renaker, but rejected for production. It has been rehashed and even copied, and mass-produced in those iterations, but the original design has yet to be known beyond two castings that the artist decorated herself.

His name is Abu Farwa. One could translate the name a couple ways, but it is most likely a misspelling of the term "abo farwa", which is the fruit-nut of the chestnut tree. If you take the words abu and farwa separately, they mean "father" and a feminine name derived from the term for "fur". Just guessing by the real horse's coloring, the actual intended meaning is that of the chestnut nut.

UPDATE: Several helpful collectors with the book by Gladys Brown Edwards have informed me that she named the real Abu Farwa, and her translation was "Father of Chestnuts". Thank you all for writing!

UPDATE II: Sally Clow informed me that Abu Farwa's full sister, Rossletta, was a chestnut brindle. She was described as "gray" for lack of a better word for it, but was clearly not gray. As an adult horse, she was a bright chestnut brindle. 

One source says she was "sold without papers", while another says she was denied papers. Some say it was because the breeder did not want it the brindle traced back to them. If you look at photos of their dam, Rissletta, you'll notice she has the same white cap to her tail, like a rabicano. 

Model courtesy Elizabeth Bouras.

Photos by author.

I estimate that this 8" tall portrait was sculpted c. 1954- early 1955. Maureen had originally sculpted it for submission to Hagen-Renaker's Designer's Workshop line. Instead, the #B-621 Abu Farwa, a balking, turned-head pose, was selected for release in Fall 1955, and produced in non-portrait white-gray. When Maureen glazed her own copy of the approved balking Abu Farwa, she made him a chestnut portrait of the real horse (scroll down). An artist's vision is enduring!

Collectors know this prancing fellow as the Alternate Abu Farwa, or Large Abu Farwa. He does not have a mold number because he was never added to the HR moldbook. 

The real Abu Farwa was a very famous chestnut Arabian stallion. His influence in the Arabian breed in America is no small thing. Less well known is the fact that he was the sire of the original TV series' My Friend Flicka (registered as Wahana). I certainly don't want to make light of the real horse's importance, or make this a blog about horse breeding history, so I'm going to just focus on the portrait. There's so much more out there that I can't begin to address.

Model courtesy Elizabeth Bouras.

Photos by author.

This particular piece came from Maureen's own collection and transferred to a collector during her lifetime. This was not an estate sale item. When that collector sold the piece in February 1993, it moved to the East Coast. Almost a decade later later, the new owner flew it out with her to a California ceramic model horse show, where Maureen was a guest. The Abu's owner, Elizabeth Bouras, took this photo:

Maureen Love and her chestnut Abu Farwa

Bring Out Your Chinas show 2002.

Some of this horse's glaze features are seen on other horses by Maureen. The way she glazed the eyes, on her earliest pieces, was a bit stark between pupil, iris, and sclera. In some, the brown iris has brushstrokes and white showing through. It doesn't look like HR factory decoration.

Transparent brown iris.

Note this a much darker shade of brown than the HR factory iris color.

Another feature of the chestnut is the presence of hair detailing in the mane and tail. This was not done on HR models of the same era.

Model courtesy Elizabeth Bouras.

Photos by author.

Her matte glaze had a tendency to produce "crawl" in its surface, in deeper pooled areas or thickened "drip" areas. I have had the good fortune to handle a number of her personal custom glazed works, over the years, and each realistic matte one she glazed has this, including a DW Toulouse Goose. 

Model courtesy Brona Hicks.

Photos by author.

The glaze crawl, while unknown if it is unique to her glaze vat, has become a helpful confirmation in identifying pieces. I haven't found it on HR factory issue mattes of the same era.

Hey! Who is this other horse in the comparison photos?

This is the only other known example of the Alternate Abu Farwa, a dapple gray by Maureen.

Photos and model courtesy Jeanene Bernardin.

I had to brighten and contrast these old photo prints for this post. 

As rare as he is, you may find this horse very familiar. In 1994, HR produced a similar horse, a fraction of his size, as a direct-to-collectors limited edition. This 5.5" model was the second such offering for collectors, and was called "Encore". He was produced in (non-portrait) chestnut, white-gray, bay, and dapple gray. The dapple gray was a little more costly, because each one was to be dappled by Maureen, herself. None of the small Encore dapple grays come close to representing the Abu above. Laurilyn Burson produced Encore for HR, under contract.

This bay was one of Laurilyn's, a holdback because he had lines of slip pigment, almost like woodgraining. This can happen when the slip is not thoroughly blended, and the tint pigments swirl in layers, instead of a perfect unified color.

After HR released Encore, Renaker family members produced a similar design, sculpted by Jose Garcia, in their Loza Electrica factory in Mexico. This factory produced factory glazed runs, and even some bisques, for the collector market. Later, the Loza molds changed hands a few times. The bisque below dates to the third molds' owner, Kylee Demers.

Here you can see how the two small molds differentiate. The Loza is not an exact copy.

It is possible that there are more large Alternate Abu Farwa out there in the world. After all, Maureen had the mold and the technology to produce them. If you see or learn about any others, please share.



Roasted chestnuts, or, more like kiln-roasted... Happy Holidays!




References

Arnold, Jo Ellen. Pers. comm. Copy of letter from the February 1993 sale of a collection of horses glazed by Maureen Love. 

Clow, Sally. Pers. comm. January 2014.

Roller, Gayle. Hagen-Renaker: A Charlton Standard Catalogue. Third Edition. Pp. 71, 72, 582. The Charlton Press: Palm Harbor, FL, 2003.