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LYNNE
MERCHANT surrounded with cloisonne, baskets and brass objects
from India.
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The first thing you notice about Lynne Merchant's North County house
is how small it is — 700 square feet, at most — with
tiny rooms. Then you become aware that every square inch of wall
and a lot of floor space is covered with collections. Merchant,
a jewelry designer and teacher, does not collect in just one or
two categories. In a fast calculation, she documented 35 categories.
A thorough count might approach 50. She is fond of quoting an old
Afghan saying: "Drop by drop a river is made."
A PASSION FOR COLLECTING
If you alphabetized Merchant's collections, under the letter
A would be antique purses of Victorian needlepoint, beads and
such. B is for boudoir dolls, Borneo burden baskets, Balinese
masks and buttons of all kinds. C is for cloisonne, corsages and
candlesticks. At the end of the alphabet there are whistles, wooden
spoons and whiskers from tigers, domestic cats and other animals.
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A
CORNER of the kitchen with miniature silver oddities.
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As a child, Merchant, a San Diego native, collected skate keys,
which she turned into necklaces. She studied printmaking at the
California College of Arts and Crafts, traveled extensively and
lived in Africa for two years. As a sort of itinerant artist she
made leather sandals, then leather jewelry and buttons.
"I began collecting fabric and beads," says Merchant.
"I ended up with boxes of weird things and put the pieces
together with leather."
A six-month sojourn in Nepal and India led to Merchant collecting
ethnic jewelry and soon her leather jewelry turned to working
with twisted wire, a technique she uses today in her hand-fabricated
jewelry designs.
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Antique
purses, boudoir dolls and Indonesian food trays filled with
Indian, Afghan, Mexican, Russian and Tunisian bracelets
decorate the living room. |
Some of Merchant's
Borneo burden baskets from the Dayak tribe were purchased in Bali.
At one time they were used to hold fish and were dropped in the
water to keep the fish fresh. Her Sumatran beaded baskets were
used to present gifts and dowry items in wedding ceremonies. They
have bottom indentations because they were carried on the head.
"I am interested in the old way of making things and often
buy imperfect items on purpose. I always collect when I travel
and I travel with a jeweler's loupe for examining and a small
polishing cloth for silver."
Her favorite flea market in Paris is Porte de Vanves.
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