30 years ago this month, Susanne and William Ernest Waites gathered up their two sons and moved to Australia. It was the beginning of a love affair for the two of us, as we discovered the art and culture of the Australian Aborigines.
As ancient as it was, with 20,000 years of history dating back to first humans who painted on the cave walls and escarpments in Australia, it was new and fascinating to us.
We had never been exposed to anything like it. We had purchased a few antiques to furnish our home but had not been “collectors” of anything else of value.
That soon ended as we gathered up items of Aboriginal and Papuan material culture, and studied the ways and arts of the people who created them.
A few years later, while returning to the US, we traveled back through Africa and discovered African tribal art. Soon after settling back in the States, we made our first family trip to the American Southwest, where we discovered the magnificent work of North American Indians, followed by the art of the Arctic peoples.
At that point, realizing we had no more brain-space in which contain more knowledge of native cultures, we drew the curtain across further discoveries and concentrated on learning more and collecting more from Africa, Australia, North America and a smattering of Pacific Islander art.
Within a year of returning to the US, we also discovered that we could not just keep on collecting. We would run out of physical space in which to enjoy it. Buying art just to have and store it was not an attractive option for us. Far better to get the art out in the hands of others so the world could enjoy what we found so compelling.
To be candid, selling was also a way to finance a growing collection as we replaced pieces that we had grown tired of with newly acquired pieces that reflected our increased knowledge and experience.
So, 30 years on, we decided it was a good time for the Waites to have a big 30% off sale. Visit our websites at Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink, TribalWorks and ZuniLink to see what's available that you can't live without. There will never be a better time to acquire it.
Thank you for 30 years of support.
