So I have the opportunity to purchase a bolo by one of my favorite artists at what I would consider to be a REALLY good deal. It’s an early work and not as detailed and refined as his current works— it is nice, though. I’ve also never seen a bolo of his priced in an affordable range for me.
What does everyone think about collecting early works that aren’t necessarily at the top of an artist’s game. Do you think it’s extra cool because they’re still in the process of developing and it speaks to a specific moment in their career or do you think it’s generally just inferior and of lesser interest?
I think it depends on your goals, how much your decisions rest on aesthetics, whether you care about long-term valuation, or if you’re stimulated to collect someone in depth no matter variations in quality. Serious collectors I know will turn down lesser work by big names if better work is available, no matter date of production: the aesthetics and the long-term collectability of strong pieces will always be there, vs. interest in a maker’s name per se.
I’ve had the opportunity to see a great idea in a bracelet by a superstar, but not well executed. In that case he was beyond his best years in terms of craft, not prior to them. I didn’t see the point when great work by him is available…others make a different choice.
I agree with @chicfarmer, it depends on your goals. But if you like the piece and it’s a “REALLY good deal”, go for it. Down the road you may be able to purchase a more highly collectable piece.
Early in my collecting, I went to an auction that had acouple early bracelets by Preston Monongye. I bid on both of them until it was just myself and another couple (who I knew would outbid me). I am glad I did didn’t purchase them, since I now realize I was just biding on the name, not necessarily the bracelet. Since then I’ve seen many more collectable work by Preston, but my taste and my approach to collecting has changed. There are several exceptional artist I’d love to own, but I’ve narrowed it down to a couple and am content to do my due diligence to find that special, likely more collectable, piece (fingers crossed😊).
Thanks all— lots to think about. I don’t think I’d collect a name for the sake of it but I am interested in artist catalogs as something worth exploring. I think people do that with other art mediums but not so much jewelry. There are some aspects of this bolo that you don’t see often in their other work so it may be worth it. Still deciding…
It’s like buying the first album of a new band. Some are still amazing, and valuable to the fans. Like the Metallica - Kill 'Em All, or the Beatles - Please Please Me. I love these, and often try to find early pieces of very skilled artists. Also when I buy ancient stuff or fossils, typically I try to buy the oldest available.
I am not an expert on collecting by any stretch, but I guess the question I could ask is, do you love it enough that you would buy it no matter who the artist is?
I have a cuff by an artist (definitely not a master artist, but one I admire) that is most likely an earlier piece (because of when I bought it as a pawn piece), and I it’s one of my favorites. Granted, I didn’t know much about particular Native artists when I bought it, so I was strictly drawn to the look of the piece alone.
Hey, @gt75 I hear you re: certain bands - Boston and U2 for me!
Maybe because I’m a little bit sentimental, those earlier rough pieces would be of interest to me. I think for someone that I really love, the evolution of their work would be valuable, even if later pieces were much better aesthetically.
However, above all else, I’m with @Ziacat that I don’t buy jewelry that I won’t wear, so a piece has to be unusual enough or strange enough for me to want to wear it, no matter when in the lifeline of the artists career that it was made.