Sad loss

[Brian]

I am very sad to have to report that earlier this evening, my friend and mentor Gus Vollmer passed away suddenly.

Gus was well known in South Africa, being an extremely keen collector of all Eastern and Asian weaponry, but having a serious preference for Japanese swords. He was active in the early 80's and 90's, and built up a staggering collection of varied edge weapons.

Gus was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, and was a firm believer that you share your collection with the world. I spent many days sitting in his "sword room" taking down any item that took my fancy and discussing and handling it. He always had time to discuss swords, and was fond of saying that he didn't know much about makers or the technical details....but he knew what he loved, and recognised a good sword.

Gus was also a passionate restorer of swords, and would meticulously sit for weeks patching up a damaged saya or fitting, and we affectionately called him a "veterinarian" due the the fact that he took "dogs" that no-one else would touch and made them better.

In the early days, he bought swords from Sothebys and other auction houses, and had a wonderful collection of accompanyments from statues to vases.

Most of you will not know him. He was old school, and to him the internet did not exist. But his collection was accessible and his knowledge was shared anytime. He will be sorely missed.

Over the past few years I have posted some bad pics of some of his collection. I will post some of them again for those who have not seen them.

As one of the very few people who encouraged hands-on Nihonto collecting here in South Africa, he will be missed. He was the first person I took a new acquisition to, to get his opinion and discuss if it needed any work. SA has lost perhaps its' most important, respected and loved collectors. RIP Gus.

 

Brian

[Brian]

Some of his other Eastern edged weapon collections. His sword room was literally wall to wall with wonderful and unique items.

[Stephen]

sorry for your loss. I remember the pix and how we all marveled and envied his collection. What will be come of all those swords?

[Brian]

Stephen,

 

I am uncertain at this time. Apparently he left clear instructions to his long time partner on how she should handle things in case anything happened to him. For now, they are in good hands, and I should imagine they will all find good homes in the future. I am sure many of them will end up overseas in important collections. It will be a lengthy process, and I am sure for now she has other priorities, but she will ensure they all get the attention they deserve. I would love to own some of them, as I have fallen in love with many of them over the years, but I fear they are probably all outside of my meager budget.

But I am confident they are in good hands. Just hard to let the info sink in that I won't be able to visit again and just sit in the room and let the atmosphere sink in. Stragely, the room was a very peaceful and relaxing place, and was where I would go after a hectic week at work occasionally. I always felt better after being there.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Jean]

Condoleance from France for his family and his friends.

[Curran]

Brian-

 

Condolence.

I remember you or another member shared these photos a long time before. It is quite a collection. There was an exceptional collector in this area many years ago. He'd been a weapons system designer for Rockwell and others during the 1950s-->1980s, travelling all over the world and bringing back whatever he wanted in whatever fashion he could. When I started collecting Nihonto again in the 1990s, he had me visit. Amond his hundreds of items, he only had one Japanese sword. His exact words were, "Only one, because learning Japanese swords would take me another lifetime." Like Gus, he too was ~old school~ with quite the library and files of hand written correspondence.

 

When he passed about 7 or 8 years ago, many of the items of his collection where already earmarked for certain other collectors and certain museums. One of them was very similar to an item in Gus' photo- and I wondered if it went to him when Tek passed, or if Gus just owned a very similar one.

 

I see the tsuba on his wall, and it looks like he has a soten or two and what appears a nice looking tsuba of Higo "bamboo leaves" design, though it may be a Shoami version. A nice display.

 

Again, my condolence.

 

Curran

[BenoitD]

Thank You for Sharing.

 

BenoitD