| “I certainly had this
history of collecting things. I knew what it was to acquire
a collection and try to have a modest level of connoisseurship.
I knew it was good to have high-end rare things rather than
collecting a lot of mediocre stuff. And I had lots of friends
to tell me that it was better to have one great piece than
ten mediocre pieces. They appreciate better, they’re
beautiful, and they’re rare. Nobody’s going
to beat a path to my door to see 50 used Harmony banjos,
but they might be interested in looking at a Whyte Laydie
#7 or a Presentation Cole, plus just looking at these objects—it’s
separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak." |
 |
Photo by
Alice Gerrard |
|
“Each instrument has
a story. Probably all these instruments have stories,
and the more interesting instruments probably have more
interesting stories…. [The story might involve]
intrigue and beating out the competition and some very
bizarre stories of deaths and suicides, and instruments
disappearing for many years to magically appear after
10 or 12 years. Some instruments I’ve been trying
to acquire for 15 or 20 years….”—Jim
Bollman |
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