Curated

I have a couple well-meaning critics who've suggested I may have a problem with obsessively filling my house.  I beg to differ!  I am admittedly not a minimalist, but I also don't think my house is cluttered.  They say I accumulate.  I say I collect.  Wildly different. 

I kept about a dozen Japanese beckoning cats when I donated my collection of antique Maneki Neko--one favorite in each material.  They're in the living room (wood, iron, clay, porcelain), outside (stone), in my powder room (my first, now a lamp) and a large Kutani porcelain one in my entry--beckoning in my friends. 

Accumulating has a haphazard implication--unrestrained and inevitable.  It suggests a continuous buildup or piling-up of something with no end-game.  And that the accumulation is passive or automatic, without conscious control, or worse, that amassing more is better. 

Chinese blue & white ceramics have dictated the color theme of my past and present living rooms.  
My mom and I both admired and collected these antiques (no reproductions allowed). 
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French and English Majolica brightens my dining room.  
I love the colorful plates, pitchers, floor pots and wall-pockets. 

Collecting on the other hand, implies intention and purpose.  It suggests searching for specific items with an eye toward quality and the objective of completeness.  The collector makes choices in a deliberate and organized manner.

My fanciful collection of cow creamers mingle with my dishes in the pantry.  
I was delighted by one I found in a vintage shop in Colorado--after that, they found me everywhere!  
While most are vintage English and German, only a couple are antique English Staffordshire.

When it comes to items in our homes, we all gradually acquire over time.  That's the natural result of living our lives.  But our approach and consciousness of this process--and the emphasis of quality over quantity--is the difference. While both accumulating and collecting involve the gathering of something, the distinction lies in the word "curated." 

A few English stoneware pieces sit on a shelf in my bar.

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A collection of Japanese Kokeshi dolls reside on an old Chinese apothecary chest on the stair landing.

Museums have curators whose job it is to carefully select, assemble and arrange the showing of a themed exhibit.  Unless you have museum-quality collections, you probably don't want your home to look curated at that level.  But having a home that gives an unconscious awareness of being curated is a good thing.  There's the sense that everything was chosen with consideration and selectively edited to reflect your lifestyle and singular taste.

French confit jars and Alsatian pottery are scattered throughout my kitchen and family room.  I especially love the French mustard color and have painted the walls in my last three family rooms this color. 
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My mom and I also loved and collected antique Japanese Ikebana (flower arranging) baskets
for their intricate weaving and rich patinas.

I admit to having many things I collect--with varying degrees of passion.  Aside from quirky cow creamers and color-themed vintage wall plates, most are antiques and all are meaningful to me and give me pleasure.  I didn't usually start with the intention of creating a collection, but my interest and fondness drew me to like items and before I knew it...  

Japanese teapots, mostly iron, adorn the bookcase in my office.   
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Antique Chinese birdcages hang in my sun room.

And I can't take all the blame.  Anyone who knew my parents or of the estate they left, knows that collecting is definitely in my bloodline!  And I'd say I got nature AND nurture.  They were avid collectors of paintings and varied ethnic and antique artifacts.  One thing I learned from my parents is that discerning collectors continue to edit their collections.  Upgrading to refine your collection is acceptable and desirable.

Japanese hibachis with ceramic or copper interiors were used with coals for cooking or hand-warming.  I especially love those with woven exteriors.  Several are repurposed into tables throughout the house.

My biggest collection by far was my Japanese beckoning cats and it ended up outgrowing my downsized house in California.  My mom unwittingly started my collection and we often shopped together.  I loved the hunt (they weren't readily available), dealers searched for me, and I grabbed up every unique piece I could find.  It ended up being an extensive and valuable collection that I donated to a museum.  That collecting and collection felt worthwhile. 

Old Japanese saki pots found their place on a hutch in the breezeway.  
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Bulgarian Troyan Redware plates coordinate with the mixed antique tiles surrounding the sink. 

I admit I was a more eager collector until this move into my forever home, where the space is determined.  I took the move as an opportunity to edit my collections (and everything else) so that this home would have no meaningless (to me) excess.  It is personal and truly represents who I am and the things I love.  

Handmade English Victorian tiles form the backsplash in the cottage.  A different type of collection, I set out to collect enough after becoming enchanted with the look and variety.  I found one or two at a time on Ebay.

Another different type of collection--and my most varied--is the art I have displayed throughout my home.  I have oil paintings, water colors, pastels, original lithographs and etchings, and woodblock prints.  Collecting art was one of the first thing my parents encouraged after I was living on my own.  Over fifty years ago, I fell in love with an etching by Austrian artist Luigi Kasimir at a gallery near where I worked at the time.  I must have raved about it, because my parents gave me money on my birthday to purchase it.  

It still has center stage above my living room mantle, along with several other etchings by Kasimir.  

I grew up skiing.  We were a family whose vacations were always mid-winter to ski.  Since then, I've always loved the sight of snow covering the earth and been attracted to oil paintings of snow scenes--some moody and others full of New England charm.  These line my downstairs hallways.  

I bought this in Paris a few years ago--I love the gray sky and muted tones.
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This oil by Carl Peters was a gift from my parents for another birthday about twenty years ago.

Finally, the beauty of Japanese antiques carried over to my discovery of an American artist who lives in Japan, Daniel Kelly, and his large woodblock prints on handmade Nepalese paper.  They are simple subjects, but full of subtleties.  But my most prized piece of Japanese art is a screen I inherited from my parents' home.  

By Daniel Kelly
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The hand-painted screen fits beautifully over the tansu and simple objects I also have
to remember my parents by.

My collections now feel complete.  I've tried to temper my passion, but I do miss the hunt!  I especially find paintings irresistible, but my walls are full and I don't know if I could relegate to 'the stacks' (basement storage) any painting currently on display to make room for another.  And I still love shopping and looking at antiques, but I would only add to a collection if I came upon the rarest of additions.  I promise!

THE END