Ever since three nine- and ten-year-old chums and I (unbeknown to our parents, of course) ventured to walk the four or five miles through terra-incognita streets to Boston‘s Museum of Fine Arts, guided only by a Gulf Oil Co. street map, I was smitten by the antiquities, travel and collectibles “bug,” seeking the unusual.

Out of Africa’s central forests have come beautiful examples of tribal art. These collectible works are important in their own right, but also have influenced the works of major 19th and 20th century Western artists, including Picasso, Modigliani, Braque, Klee, Vlaminck and Derain.african

I’ve been collecting antique and vintage cartoons since I was a teenager in the 1940s – with the Good Lord’s help, I will reach 81 years at end of May!

In my collection I now have about a dozen examples of early cartoons from England and the United States, as well as some modern ones. (I also have a small collection of Persian and Indian miniatures from 19th century manuscripts.)