Free appraisals of collectable artifacts

Some of the tribal artifacts can be quite valuable. The most knowledgeable person to turn to this regard is Arthur Palmer, an Approved Registered Valuer (Commonwealth AVO and Queensland Public Trustee).

After 50 years of gathering, Mr Palmer has amassed a collection of about 7000 artefacts from Polynesia, Papua New Guinea. Africa and the Pacific Islands as well as Aboriginal pieces. They include bark paintings, bowls, boomerangs, woomeras, axes, bone daggers, masks and the big ticket items: shields, clubs and figures. Spears are not as collectable because they are too hard to transport.

An appraiser for auction house Christie's, the Brisbane collector also owns the Spearchuckas web gallery.

He does not know how much he has spent on his passion, but says he has invested everything he has earned in the past 35 years. The most valuable items in the collection are 15 rain-forest shields made in Cardwell, south of Cairns, in the 1880s. He paid "a couple of dollars" for them but they're now worth about $50,000 each. There are also six green-stone and whalebone Maori clubs from the 17th and 18th century which he inherited. They are now worth between $5000 and $40,000 each.

"What determines collectability is a mixture of age, condition, beauty and provenance - whose hands it has passed through and if you can prove it. If you have a boomerang with Captain Cook's handwriting on it, you might as well shift the decimal point three places to the right of what a normal one would be worth."

Mr Palmer will provide free appraisals for you on (07) 3876 0115 / 0418 845 515
or by answering your e-mail inquiries: spearchuckas@bigpond.com