Advice for would-be collectors

Aside from being the founder and chairman of Laya Mananghaya & Co., Jaime Laya has also found time to put together and edit the recently published "Consuming Passions Philippine Collectibles", a series of essays by collectors on local collectibles.

As everybody knows, it was during Jimmy Laya’s stint as governor that the bulk of Bangko Sentral’s priceless collection of Philippine paintings was formed.

Here are some of Mr. Laya’s tips to beginners (aside from having some extra cash).

• "Foremost is to know your area of interest. This you can do by reading works on the subject, visiting museums and private collections, talking with dealers and collectors. To develop an eye for quality, one has to inspect enough objects, talk with enough people, read enough books. Larry Gotauco goes as far as suggesting ethics to observe in looking at private collections. He speaks in the context of ceramics, but collectors in general are well advised to follow his suggestion.

• "Precisely define collecting scope. Some people want to have a little of everything – an object or two, for example, that illustrates all facets of life of a Filipino in olden times. Old portraits and photographs, furniture, household santos in glass jars, silverware, silver-headed walking sticks, jewelry, books, and manuscripts – just enough of each to place among contemporary pieces. With such a collection, one can imagine one’s Metro Manila home as recreating some affluent and tasteful ancestral home. On the other hand, a specialist focuses on a narrow area – hats, for example and collects nothing but.

• "Aim for high quality and good condition. Masterpieces whether by a painter, potter, photographer, weaver – nor goldsmith – are the most coveted and command the highest value. There is always a demand for the best but little for the mediocre. A BU (bright uncirculated coin) is better than one that is heavily abraded from use, a pristine dish better than one that is chipped or coral-encrusted, a book in its original binding and dust jacket more desirable than one that has been rebound and is missing its title page.

• "Relax. Eagerness is the downfall of many a new collector. In all innocence, they fall for persuasive patter and get all excited over common objects in poor shape, get taken in by fakes, and pay dizzying prices. They easily get overheated...or they get taken in the dead of night to a dark house filled with ‘treasures’ that the owner urgently wants to sell, only to discover too late that they had paid for fakes.

• "Think long-term and be patient. It took more than 20 years of constant wooing and checking before I managed to bag one of my best pieces. (I’m on my third decade with another item.)

• "Don’t go overboard. One should not be so obsessed as to risk family and credit standing just to have the best there is. On a related manner, people seem to be less bothered these days over selling stuff they no longer like. There surely is nothing wrong in upgrading by selling old things while buying better ones or selling because one needs the money for something else.

• "Prices are determined by supply and demand. Older objects tend to be more desirable than newly made objects because there are fewer of them and because they tend to be better made. Commercially manufactured ‘collectors’ items’ (limited editions of plates, coins, books, stamps, whatever usually don’t appreciate that much since people catch on sooner or later. To get an idea of reasonable prices, one is well advised to keep up with fellow collectors and to visit dealers regularly."