Whenever I write anything that contains advice for collectors, beyond the technicalities, it usually boils down to one thing:

Follow your heart. 

Study and expertise will certainly pay dividends for investment-minded buyers. 

But passion for a subject is, in my opinion, the best driver of that expertise. 

But what drives that passion?

 

 

It’s not uncommon. Although I’m not personally able to bid for Beatles guitars and the like, I’ve always had a small collection of Beatle items that I treasure. I collected stamps as a boy in a not very organised way. And I’ve always known collectors. 

Evidence suggest that between 30% and 40% of people collect in some way and that that sort of figure probably applies globally. 

So why? 

Here are some theories:

Materialist and consumerist theories 

Madonna was right, we are living in a material world, and that makes most of us material boys and girls. 

So to take an evolutionary psychology approach (a field that suggests many existing human behaviours evolved as survival adaptations during our species’ evolution) there is an obvious advantage to gathering surpluses of useful items. 

It may be key to how we transitioned from nomadic to more to settled agricultural life. 

This theory - and all of these are just theories and have been criticized - would suggest that this behaviour then becomes ingrained. 

And evolves with our changing world - collecting shiny objects, precious metals, and finally Pokemon cards. 

Consumerist theories are, counterintuitively, less materialist. 

They suggest that collections are less about the objects that we’re stacking up in box after box but more about the feeling we derive from them: perhaps identity reinforcement, status (pride basically), luxury…

Rolex watches are widely collected. They're functional timepieces and very elegant, but are collector's buying a feeling rather than a well-designed metal assembly? Click the image to explore this unique Hulk watch. 

 

Psychoanalytic theories 

Freudian styles of psychoanalysis find the roots of human behaviour in the unconscious mind and its competing drives (the pleasure seeking Id, the regulating Ego, and the socially conscious super Ego).

These theories are not popular today, but they persist in psychodynamic counselling and psychology that seeks to reveal unconscious drives in order to understand emotional or behavioural problems. 

This school developed a theory that collecting behaviours help to define our sense of self. 

They also posited possible drives for collecting: to impose control (like many Freudian theories this is believed to have derived from childhood toilet training); to selflessly record and preserve history; to establish a form of immortality in a collection that will survive beyond our death; or as a form of simple, material self interest (investment collecting), or as an addiction. 

Freud was himself a collector, who worked in rooms-full of antiquities, old pottery, archaeological finds and anthropological pieces. 

Among Freud's collections were many pieces related to his life's work, like this painting of pioneering French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Freud had a copy of this work, which shows Charcot demonstrating treatment with a hypnotised patient.  

 

Werner Muensterberger, a psychoanalyst and art historian (and collector), considered all collecting a sort of illness, an attempt to deal with the despair of a child separated from its mother. 

It’s in the brain: dopamine and the thrill of the chase 

Advances in the understanding of how the brain works have introduced a new neurochemical and neurobiological dimension to understanding human behaviour. 

Dopamine is the stuff of water-cooler conversations about why you can’t put your phone down at work. 

And, it may have an impact on collecting. 

Dopamine is a chemical signaller that rewards seeking behaviour. 

And, the potential relationship between it and collecting is fairly obvious. 

It’s been popularly conveyed in the phrase, “the thrill of the chase”, and that’s something that all collectors must feel surely. 

A dopamine molecule. What if it's all down to this? Image by Ben Mills at Wikimedia Commons. 

Collecting, hoarding, addiction 

We hope you’re collecting in a healthy manner! 

You don’t have to delve too far into the subject to find behaviour that most of us would recognise as problematic: 

The Ferrary Collection of Count Philipp la Renotiere von Ferrary is probably the greatest ever stamp collection. It was assembled obsessively by its incredibly wealthy creator. The count had basically no financial limits on his spending and was so lavish with it that he upended the philatelic markets and inspired a rash of high quality forgeries aimed at catching his eye. 

Sir John Soane rebuilt a house largely around his collecting mania, which is now one of London’s most entertaining visitor attractions. Descriptions of his collecting and travels are exhausting. 

Sir John Soane was a hugely successful - and passionate architect. But his troubled family life may hint at something else driving the collecting that produced this display in the Sir John Soane Museum. Image: Acroterion at Wikimedia Commons. 

 

Shirley M. Mueller MD, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist, has suggested that collecting (for some people) should be considered a behavioural addiction. 

Hoarding disorder is a recognised psychological condition, and might be seen as related to collecting run amok. 

As we understand neurodivergence more it’s been speculated that collecting might be associated with some traits found in some autism spectrum people. 

Your collecting habits 

Dr Mueller’s work includes a rather sad quotation from a museum guide taking her around some of the Cone Sisters’ renowned art collection: “Claribel preferred objects to people.” 

Whether that’s really true or not - the Cone sisters were friends with some very well-known artists and cultural figures - it seems a fairly good bet to say that Claribel’s collections brought her a good deal of joy. 

And, they did good in the world. With her sister, Etta, left huge art collections to the city of Baltimore and other museums. 

The Cone sisters with Gertrude Stein. These three women between them account for some of the most important art collecting of the 20th century. 

 

If you want to understand Matisse’s work, you’ll have to travel to Maryland, and that’s largely due to Claribel and Etta, who amassed the world’s largest collection of his work. 

And, we know most collectors derive enormous joy from their collections. 

And perhaps that’s the only psychological perspective we need to take on the matter. 

Buying rare, historic collectibles today

We are the world’s largest dealer in collectibles by value. 

Take a look around our world here. 

And, if you’d like more news from us, including on what we have on offer (not everything makes it to our website before its sold), then just sign up for free newsletter here.