and has come to a fairly equitable balance of opinions, I feel, that
as I am the "fangweilo" referred to in a couple of Robert Walpole's
early postings, I should put in my 2 cents worth.
I'm sorry to have come in so late, but I have been travelling.
I purchased an artifact from Robert about a year ago, and, upon
receiving it, I felt rather uneasy about it's genuineness. I told
Robert what I thought, and his first reaction was similar to his
initial response to Ernie.
However, as the correspondence between us developed, he calmed down,
and behaved in a perfectly honorable manner. We tried substituting
another artifact, and, when I expressed doubts about this one too, he
refunded my money.
This experience has led me to believe that Robert Walpole is an honest
collector-turned-seller who, like most of us collectors sometimes
lacks a highly experienced person's "eye". His main problem is that he
seems to have an "all guns blazing" reaction to being doubted.
I have followed this group for a number of years, (I actually recall
recommending it to Robert in our correspondence), and I strongly
believe it to be absolutely the most valuable tool existing for the
protection of antiquity collectors. There are excellent teaching tools
like Bron's website, but attending this group, and following the
advice of those well-intentioned people who contribute, will
drastically reduce the number of times a collector will be cheated.
I would strongly recommend, particularly as far as more recent members
are concerned, that readers always bear in mind: 1)that there are many
postings by people with ulterior motives, and, before choosing sides,
one should analyse whether the advice given is altruistic or there is
a hidden agenda..2)that, even if something appears in the
correspondence that the reader objects to - no matter how strongly,
the reader thinks very carefully before attacking any contributor
personally.
Over the last few years, there have been in my opinion, far too many
"flame wars" that have absolutely nothing to do with the subject of
antiquities. As far as I can see, the vast majority of the people in
this group are not anti-semitic, anti-islamic, jihadists, or anti-one
race or another, nor are they crusaders, nazis or neo-colonialists.
They are simply people who either collect, sell, or are interested in
antiquities.There is an abundance of forums for those who wish to vent
their spleen on contentious topics. Doing it on this forum strikes me
as an indulgence by people who simply want an audience.
I have noted a different category of flame war provoked because there
are misunderstandings in the way that people express themselves. For
many of the contributors, including some of the most valuable ones,
English is a second or third language. Yet I have read many
discourteous or childish remarks passed by people who only speak
English. Similarly, opinions have been misread, or resented by some
readers simply because they have not been expressed in accurate English.
Finally, regarding antiquities, an opinion given politely that someone
does not agree with should not provoke aggressive or rude ripostes. It
really seems so unnecessarily counter productive.
Anyway, that's enough of me sounding off like a pompous old fart.
It is essentially a great group, and everyone who is contributing
valuable knowledge to us sucker collectors dserves a very hearty pat
on the back!
Graham R.
--- In Ancientartifacts@yahoogroups.com, ancientgas@... wrote:
>
> i emailed cato90025 and told him why his seals were made yesterday
and not
> ancient. he took them off ebay and thanked me. i like that response.
when i
> tried to help the axis mundi guy he threatened suit. i like
cato90025's
> response. dr g
>
>
>
> **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on
family
> favorites at AOL Food.
> (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
>
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