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Q: Mr. Mattox, concerning Iraq memorabilia, is it legal to trade in these items? Do they not belong to the country?
A: Well, certainly concerning the ancient treasures of Iraq, the
trading of such objects would be illegal and in my opinion unethical. However, say for instance a soldier or civilian picked up a fragment of a nose of a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein, that type of object is a fragment of time and is the sort of thing that might one day be a collectible.
Q: To give a sense of how the market might move, what sort of item can you imagine turning up and what sort of cash is it going to go for?
A: Well, let's just take for instance what's already been brought up, a fragment of one of these large statues. I would say that if a soldier was smart enough to pick that up off the ground and actually have his friends photograph him putting it in his nap-sack so he had a provenance established with it, and if it wasn't an obvious fake, it might one day bring thousands of dollars on the auction block.
Q: Perhaps some of those G.I.s out there will listen to you about how to maintain the market value on Saddam's nose if they can get their hands on it. Jenny you've got a question here have you?
Q (Jenny): I find the whole concept really disturbing. What makes that different than looting on a certain level?
A: Well, you know a lot of people are disturbed by history itself. In America, we have problems with artifacts that remind us of our improper past actions when it comes to slavery and the treatment of African Americans. However, if we don't remember the past -- and part of that is with antiques, then we're due to repeat our mistakes.
Q (Jenny): Is this not, in large part, just people making money from an immoral, distressing situation?
A: Well, you've put a political bent on it. From my perspective, some wonderful things have happened around those fragments of statues. I saw people cheering. I saw people liberated. We may have prevented a catastrophe that America would have to respond to a few years from now with much greater force. This intervention may have saved a lot of lives. We all have our political bent, but certainly fragments of history themselves are not immoral.
Q: Wayne, Larry has a question for you.
Q (Larry): In a previous existence I was a bomb disposal officer and every week I used to go to somebody's house somewhere, where a granddad had passed away, and on the mantle piece there was a hand grenade. How much ordinance and how much ammunition do you think the American troops are going to bring home with them?
A: Well, I hope they don't bring anything home with them. That's the sort of stuff that wise American commanders will restrict. Certainly, we don't need that sort of thing on an airplane or being bartered about in tag sales where they could go off and hurt somebody. Early cannonballs going back as far as the Civil War in our country can still blow-up. I think these modern day ordinances are very dangerous.
Q: I'm sure that's true. What else is on the market? What are the real gems on the market now -- is it a piece of the Berlin wall?
A: Well a piece of the Berlin wall has had its day. It had its frenzied period, but that's past news right now. Things that are hot on today's market are things having to do with, for instance, World War II. There's a movie that came out called "Saving Private Ryan" that demonstrated the cruelty and viciousness of war. All over the world -- young people with money, saw that movie and said, "By lord, what those soldiers were involved in!" Those young people are now out collecting souvenirs of the conflict that some of your listeners fought so bravely in.
Q: Now all you have to do is turn on CNN. What about your own collection Wayne?
A: I collect and deal in anything that has intellectual interest. For instance, I like things having to do with history. My favorite is 18th century American furniture and period folk art. I like things from all cultures and objects that made a difference -- original voices. Happenings in the world today are fabulously interesting and collecting a fragment of that, done with taste of course, I think is a brilliant idea. Say for instance, stationary with Saddam Hussein's name on it – evidence of the way he portrayed himself as the new emperor of Mesopotamia. Hans Blick (chief of the UN weapons inspection team) himself described Saddam in those terms. Ever since Saddam took rule of Iraq, some time around 1982, he completely covered that land with his images – posters, pictures, and carvings. Those artifacts are a fragment of time that have, since the inception of the war, been erased almost completely in three week's time. I think those fragments are fascinating.
Q: I've seen things around that have come out of Iraq over the last ten years or so. One of which were watches that were issued, I believe, to the Iraqi Air Force with a picture of Saddam Hussein on them. Have you seen these or any artifacts that have come out of Iraq already and what kind of prices will they fetch? Will these prices not go up even more?
A: Saddam watches might fetch $500 today. What's interesting about those watches is that they were produced when Saddam was still in power. If you want to invest in something with the idea of purchasing a real antique, a watch that was produced when he was in power for military officials will be a prized heirloom. Something like a post war t-shirt printed by the thousands and marketed to capitalize on the current conflict would not be as interesting. It's like the difference between buying something tied to Elvis Presley when he was at the height of his popularity compared with "collectibles" merchandized after his death
Q: I can't tell you how disapprovingly Jenny is looking at all this.
Q (Jenny): It just makes me sad, and I think that I'd like to live in a world, however naive it may be, where people would consider spending their money on supporting a handful of Iraqi children and putting money towards building schools, etc. versus buying a watch that will be put in a case to look at, with no purpose at all.
A: Well, I do believe you'll see more American dollars spent on exactly what you're describing Jenny, than you'll see spent on collectible watches. A few years from now you'll be surprised how Iraq is flourishing and how happy the people are. But, that's a political statement and we're talking antiques. Just as I'm proud to buy a remnant of the Civil War, I'm also somebody who's not afraid to buy something that's part of, for instance, the Titanic disaster or this current conflict.
Q (Jenny): I guess if I had the same amount of money, I would rather put it towards a scholarship for African American children than toward Civil War memorabilia.
A: But Jenny, you're not talking about collecting antiques now. I contribute to as many charities as I possibly can, but in addition, I think the collection of history and historical artifacts is engaging. Do you have any antiques at all? Do you collect anything?
Q: You're not going to convince Jenny! Wayne Mattox, thank you very much indeed for joining us.
BBC Radio Interview with Wayne Mattox
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