Artist shares his ‘joy of collecting’ |09 July 2011

“In a way I think I have been lucky to be by the right bin at the right time,” he told a group of people gathered at the ex-National Assembly hall to his exposé on ‘The joy of collecting’.

Mr D’Offay said he hopes to exhibit his artefacts, which include 300 teapots, at his house soon. He hopes that parties of school children will come to visit and he can impress on them the historical and cultural importance of such items.

He also hopes that some tourists will be interested.

Mr D’Offay noted that throughout history, important figures have had a passion for collecting various things. They include German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, communist leader of the Soviet Union Josef Stalin, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, who had fads of their own about cars, films, dolls, etc.

Conducting a power-point presentation, he showed a beautifully dressed doll he bought in France some years ago for his young daughter. He noted that at the time, Mariette Mckelvy was producing dolls locally for sale to tourists. As a little boy, he had watched his mother at Cote D’Or make dolls from bits of cloth left over from the sewing machine and which were popularly known as poupet sifon.

The teapots include one over a century old gifted to him by his late grandmother and which to him not only represents a sentimental value but also has a beauty out of the ordinary. A hand-made teapot, it came from the Luo tribe in Kenya.

A jug was destined for a tomb but Mr D’Offay, who happened to be walking through Mont Fleuri cemetery, intervened and managed to get it in exchange for a flower pot he had just bought in an Indian shop.

Perhaps the item that impressed his audience the most is a mask carved out of bamboo root, which Mr D’Offay purchased in the Indian-ruled Andaman and Nicobar islands to the north-east of Seychelles. Also from those isolated islands is a tableau made from recycled paper.

From India, there is a necklace from elephant bones.
There is even a collection of old sewing machines, amassed over the years. These include an old Phoenix and a Singer, more popular in Seychelles, which Mr D’Offay said is still in good running order.

Some plates stamped 1790 were collected from the residence of  Brother Victor of La Misere after he passed away.

Mr D’Offay also has a couple of masks from Indonesia, but bought in Reunion.  Another mask, purchased in Madagascar, is apparently used as part of burial rites there.

Presenting some statues of the Buddha, now in his possession, Mr D’Offay explained that these were gifted  to him. According to Buddhist belief, nobody can buy a Buddha statue for fear of being plagued by bad luck.

Mr D’Offay also presented some artefacts from a treasure chest unearthed at Barbarons some 15 years. He recalled that this sparked considerable controversy and ridicule.
 
“That is because in many people’s perception, whatever is not gold, is not valuable.” He said that the artefacts have been found to be over 150 years old.

“The National Museum has half of the treasure, according to the law, and I hope it is doing something with it.”

Mr D’Offay presently has four ex-students of the School of Art and Design who are helping him look after his unique collection.

He also hopes they will continue as artists.
“So many people who have artistic talent are letting that go to waste.”

He recalled that last week he hired a taxi and found that the driver was one of his former students.
“Unfortunately, he has stopped painting and that is a great pity,” he lamented.