Vince needs a free-standing shelf in his bathroom at Valley Lodge to hold his toiletries. He has his sights set on a tall tacky free-standing wood carving of a African servant man in a sola topi holding a serving tray. It is so tacky (and a little bit racist if you ask me) but he wants it. I will let him get it, but I will not let him spend what the crafter is asking for it. Tacky is one thing. Expensive and tacky and I draw a line in the sub-Saharan sand. So we are visiting the crafter every week at the Rosebank Market and low-balling the negotiation. After about a month of this we will ask him the question, so how many have you sold in the last month? We are hoping he will adopt the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two Rand in the bush." Let's see, shall we?
Believe me I get the attraction. I brought back shields and spears and Maasai necklaces, straw baskets, batiks and animal carvings when I first visited Africa in 1979. I even hand-carried a mosquito net attached to an 5 foot diameter iron ring on the airplane with me to hang over my bed at my beach house which I purchased at Abdul's of Nairobi. Half of the charm was the tag which said "Abdul's of Nairobi." There is no malaria at the Jersey Shore. And sure they may have been tacky, but they were cheap! African tray man needs to get in line with the world market.
While we are waiting for him to cave, we are decorating our apartment with welcome masks from the Bobos of
Bukina Faso, shields from the Fangs of Gabon and other beautiful wood carvings which are relatively reasonable in price, beautifully made and not tacky at all. And we walk right past the African tray man with our purchases and make eye contact to let him know we are buying. Are you selling?
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