2 as younger, first-time collectors are becoming interested in heritage. Many of them are NRIs, who’ve returned to the country recently, and are rediscovering their roots. Sujata Assomull Sippy is a leading fashion writer and commentator, and growing up between London-Dubai and India finds herself increasingly drawn to collecting one-of-a -kind pieces for her home. “In fashion too, I have lately been drawn to vintage bags and clothes. Increasingly I find that
friends who would earlier ask me about new stores to hit on trips abroad, want to know more about destinations for vintage shopping. They are drawn to the craftsmanship of pieces which are extremely well-made, and have a history to them. There are memories attached to the acquisition of such pieces, and there is a sense of being connected with one’s past,” she adds. These sentiments are shared by Garima Jain, a consultant working in the field of traditional Indian crafts,
NOV — DEC 2012
colonial artists from here, whose freshness we were drawn to. Many of them later became very well-known names fetching record prices at auctions.”
Such encounters create special personal associations with many artists, as well as clients who’ve become friends. And while there are numerous anecdotes of people like yesteryear actress Rekha spending afternoons here; of Paul Smith, Donna Karan, Bianca Jagger and Parmeshwar Godrej visiting, the duo cherish those instances when lasting friendships have been forged through chance meetings. They remember a day when an Italian lady came looking for antique silver. To their surprise, she pulled out a weighing scale from her hand-bag, and began to negotiate for the silver in a way only the Italians can! “It was hilarious,” muses Kaka, “But it became the start of a special friendship that has lasted till today.” It is also so, on this afternoon at their store, as the third generation of a family from New York whose parents are friends of theirs (and discerning collectors) are enraptured by a stunning Patan Patola textile from Gujarat. Having spent their life in the world of corporate investment banking, they are beginning to see the legacy of their own grandparents.
A frequent visitor in the past few months has been Anupam Poddar, one of India’s leading collector of contemporary art, who grew up surrounded by gorgeous textiles acquired by his mother – Lekha – and one of Nalin and Kaka’s oldest clients. “I have begun to appreciate antiquities for their classic beauty and timeless value. Each work is crafted with such care, imagination and reverence for the materials involved that they are a true delight to indulge in,” reflects Poddar, whose interest gradually became so serious that he enrolled himself in an Art History Programme. It is such patrons that Nalin and Kaka share many long evenings discussing the intricacies of an 18th Century Asian textile or Agra Piettre Durre. But this is changing too,