Posted by Don --Previous Message-- Link: Artists and Ancestors
on 7/27/2007, 12:09 am, in reply to "Re: What to do with heirlooms"
202.154.147.163
As collector of painted miniature portraits, I think it is very sad when they leave a family. However, I recognise that it is sometimes inevitable.
The even sadder thing is when a seller deliberately deletes the name of the sitter from their portrait. I feel that is a bit like destroying the sitter's gravestone.
It is much better to keep the name of the sitter with any portrait or photograph that leaves a family, so at least the sitter keeps the dignity of their identity.
For myself I get a great deal of satisfaction in playing detective and finding out what I can about a forgotten sitter. I then post the information on my website so interested family history researchers can find the information if they are searching for it.
A number of people have been thrilled to find an image of their ancestor on my website at www.portrait-miniature.blogspot.com.
: Personally, I too prefer the family
: heirlooms over a giant tv screen or
: dvd....I would look for a university
: archives in the area they lived and
: give to the archives. In East
: Tennessee we have the Appalachian
: Archives which I hope to give to some
: day.
:
: --Previous Message--
: I am also the genealogist of my family
: and I could share my horror stories of
: lost photo's and heirlooms. I'll just
: say I know how heartbreaking these
: situations are and that has led to a
: bit of a problem. I search ebay,
: antique stores and thrift shops
: regularly for my lost family heirlooms.
: I would happily purchase them to keep
: them with their history, even if I give
: them away to relatives who care at the
: moment. I can't resist buying things
: that are identified by family, like
: engraved silver or china with a note
: describing the owner. I have begun
: ebaying these things in hopes of
: reuniting them with the people who
: should have them. I found Deadfred.com
: to be helpful on a few things. I have
: donated to state archives when
: appropriate. I don't care about
: possessing these things, but I do care
: about the stories they help tell. I
: would love to have a way of being sure
: these things are kept with their
: history, suggestions appreciated.
: --Previous Message--
: I wish I had a relation such as you,
: Kat.
: My problem is that I am the last of my
: line. My aunts & uncles had no
: children, so it all traces back to
: greeat-grandparents, great-aunts &
: great-uncles, whose births ranged from
: 1856-1911. I am pushing 60, so the
: cousins of whom I speak are cousins
: many times removed. Those cousins of my
: own generation passed away before I was
: born. They are people whom don't really
: know. Our common ancestors are my
: great-grandparents, their
: gt-gt-gt-grandparents, who were born in
: the 1830s. They are widely scattered
: across the country. There are no family
: reunions. Many of my items do not even
: pertain to their direct ancestors, but
: to people who would have been their own
: parents' cousins.
:
: I guess I'm wondering... does my duty
: lie with keeping an item with its
: history, its provenance... or does my
: duty lie simply with seeing that the
: item somehow remains within that
: bloodline, even if those potential
: heirs know nothing & care little
: about the history or their ancestors?
:
: I am leary of cousins whose first
: question about an item is not "To
: whom did it belong?" but "Is
: it worth anything?"
:
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