Objects

                                                        Objects

As the clouds of eternal darkness were slowly dominating my life I sat in my study in a complacent mood. My life had been rich in traveling throughout the world with the added joy of finding and buying interesting objects that allowed me to reflect on the place and occasion I acquired the object. My wife used to tell me I am an obsessional collector. There is a certain amount of truth in her belief as our apartment in Paris has many of my treasured possessions. Now in my later stage of my life, I am always looking in the Parisien antique shops for interesting objects. Old habits die hard. For instance, I recently bought two magnificent swans.They had been molded in clay by a young and up and coming artist with a breathtaking and delicate attention to a swan’s movement. I am very pleased with my purchase. 

In fact there is a little story behind the purchase. On my daily walk I saw the swans in an antiques shop window. I immediately knew that the artist responsible had excelled him or herself. Funnily, over the years I have had the chance to buy objects from artists that never achieve real recognition but for some peculiar reason produce one or two masterpieces worthy of praise. As I knew the owner of the shop I called her. She was on holiday and would be back in a week. I told her I was very interested in the swans and would she please reserve them for me. She said she would for a period of forty eight hours from the date she opened her shop in ten days time. While I was on the phone I saw a photographer taking several pictures of the swans. Once off the phone I turned to him and commented on their beauty. His reply, “They are exceptional, I have to tell a friend”.

It must have been three weeks later I thought I would stroll down the passageways around Drouot, the famous auction house. In this area there are several antique shops. I often go this way but seldom find objects that start my blood racing. Today as I was walking down one of the passageways I saw in the window of one of the well known antique shops the statue of an older Chinese woman of spectacular beauty. She was slightly bent forward as though she was looking at something on the ground.  She had her hands collapsed in front of her. But what was so remarkable was her face. It had a peaceful aura about it that transcended in your soul. You could have looked at her all day. It reminded me of my trips to China and once being in a zen chinese garden surrounded by the town’s population of over a million people. I experienced a total feeling of peace, poetry and beauty that I never felt before or since. There I was enjoying that same feeling that I thought I had lost forever. I had to own it. 

I immediately entered the shop. I was approached by a smiling and pleasant young woman. 

“I am very interested in the Chinese statue in the window. I assume it is from the Ming dynasty”.

‘Yes, it is very beautiful. In fact it has a remarkable pedigree. It was once owned many years ago by one of China’s important families. It came to France with a French aristocratic family whose lord and master had a bet with the Chinese family. We found it amongst his possessions that were recently up for auction. I have the statue's whole history”.

“I assune it is for sale”. 

“Yes it’s for sale at 28,000 euros, well justified. But unfortunately for you yesterday a potential purchaser has asked me for a forty eight hour reflection. He gave me a deposit of two thousand euros, which he paid in cash.

“What do you think are the chances of him buying it”. 

“ Difficult to say, I am not sure he understands its true value therefore he is inclined to think it is overpriced. I did not particularly like the individual, that's why I asked for a deposit. But he spent quite a long time taking photos and measurements which seemed a bit odd. He did not ask me where the statue came from or its history, the only information he was interested in was to know that it was a genuine work from the Ming dynasty. He left no name. So if you are interested, come back the day after tomorrow”.

I left the shop in a despondent mood. I was not only interested in buying the statue, I was completely committed to buying it if it was still available. I imagined waking up every morning and seeing her face; one of the great pleasures of owning an object that you feel in total harmony with. This statue, for me, had such a soothing and peaceful quality that the price became a secondary consideration. I spent the next twenty four hours obsessed with her image. 

Two days later I returned to the store. As I approached the front entrance I noticed the shop’s front window was missing the statue. My first reaction was that it is not possible! I will ask the shop assistant for the buyer's name and offer him a price he won’t refuse.

As I entered the shop I said. “I see your customer brought the statue.”

“No, not at all, yesterday was.”she paused, “ stressful and complicated”. 

I looked at her completely astonished.

“Let me explain. Yesterday morning he came back with a friend. They both had scarves and hats on. They were carrying a wooden box. Ignoring me they went straight to the window placing the box over the statue. I moved forward to stop them only to be faced with a gun. Before I had time to scream for help They were out of the shop and into a car that was parked waiting for them. Now to an interesting and lucky incident that took place. An American woman having a morning coffee saw the two men dressed in hats and scarves  enter the shop leaving a car parked with the engine running. She thought it looked a little suspicious as within seconds they came out of the shop carrying a box. She immediately snapped two photos. I met her as she charged into the shop asking if I was alright. I told her I was but under a certain amount of stress as I have been robbed.  I was in the process of calling the police. At that point she told me she had taken two photos of their escape. One photo showed the car's registration number. The information on the photograph was given to the police. They told me that they would send somebody to the shop and also immediately put a tracer on the car.”

“What an adventure! Do you think we have any chance of recovering the statue”?

“Let’s hope so. If they do without it being damaged will be a miracle”.  

“I think I will leave you as I am not sure I want to get involved with the police. I am so pleased nobody was hurt. Did the American woman leave her name and phone number”?

“Like you she didn't want to get involved with the police as she had some visa problems. But I gave her a small broach from our collection. She was thrilled”. 

“I will come back in two days for news about the statue. If it is found and still for sale and without damage I will pay you in cash so we can have a completely anonymous transaction. Given all the excitement surrounding our Chinese lady I think it would be the most prudent thing to do. 

“I agree. If you pay cash I will give you a 10% discount.”

“Thank you for the gesture. I will see you in two days”. 

In the following days I thought of nothing else but the statue. I made several tours of my apartment contemplating where I would put it. I assumed, perhaps naively, with the information the police were given they would have soon traced the car and had apprehended the thieves. These thoughts were driven by a sense of seeing the whole episode in a positive light. If I didn't think like that I would have fallen into a slight depression. I was obsessed with owning this statue. I even found a name for her, Susu. 

Two days later I was back at the shop. I immediately noticed the statue was not in the window. For a moment my heart gave an abnormal beat. But as I entered, the two women serving in the shop both were smiling. 

Apparently about an hour after I left two police officers came to hear all the details as they had apprehended the car, found the statue and booked the three occupants of the vehicle.  

They returned the statue the next day in the wooden box

the robbers transported it in. The two women told me that they had taken the statue out and checked that there is no damage. They also told me as the case was well made they had placed her back for safe keepings. They suppose if I bought it might help with the transport. 

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. 

I left the shop with hugs all round. The statue was well protected in its casement, all the paperwork carefully hiding in my inside pocket. I looked down at the box and said to myself all this excitement and worrying was well worth the annoyance. It did cross my mind that why had the robbers been so keen to acquire this statue as according to the shop assistant they didn’t seem to appreciate its beauty and value.

It took me a few days to decide on the perfect place for the  statue. I finally decided she (Susu) would be placed on a pedestal in the corner of my bedroom.  When I woke in the morning I would see her extraordinarily beguiling face and last thing at night I could wish her happy dreams. 

It must have been two weeks later that I spent an hour examining the craftsmanship of Susu. The hands of the man that modeled this statue were that of a master. Every detail was in perfect proportion creating the overall beauty. The peace and feeling of human love was electrifying. As I turned the statue over I thought I saw something not quite in harmony with the rest of the base. I took my large magnifying glass to take a closer look. There was a small trap door. Without the magnifying glass it was practically impossible to see with the naked eye. With a pair of tweezers I open it. My desk was flooded with a white substance that poured out of the base. I dip a finger in for a taste, pure heroine. Now I understood the robbers interest. I looked at the statue's slimming face and then at the mass of white powder. What should I do? I had a few choses.

1 I could return to the shop and talk to them

2. I could talk to my doctor and find out if he could sell the heroine into the medical world.

3. I could find somebody to sell the drug on the open market

4. I could throw the substance down the kitchen drain.

5. Allow the heroine to remain with Susu.

I took another fond look at Susu. Did she know the answer?. I decided to sleep on the various options and decide tomorrow morning.

The next morning I telephoned my doctor, an old friend from many past years. He was surprised by my request but after a short discussion said he would take the heroine. When I put down the phone. I had the amazing impression that Susu nodded her head in approval. Two weeks later I received a handsome check in compensation for the heroine. That night as I went to bed I kissed the top of Susu's head and said. 

“My dear, you have had an extraordinary life. I wonder how many tales and secrets you have yet to tell”. 

David Nutt                                             Sept 2024