44 episodes listed below
Collectors swap stories about objects, auctions and the hunt.
Michael Backman runs a London gallery and says he came to the business as a collector. In these conversations with friends and colleagues who share the habit, the subjects range from African currency blades to a group of Malay beads found at a regional UK auction, and there is frank advice on buying well.
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Michael Backman: Art History & Material Culture treats collecting as a subject in its own right, and it does so through conversation. Michael Backman runs a gallery in central London. He says plainly that he came to the business as a collector first. The people across the table share that instinct. Paul Bromberg lives in Bangkok, has run a consulting business there and is a contributing editor to Arts of Asia magazine. In one exchange he and Backman take turns telling the stories behind favourite objects, and Bromberg starts with a silver water pot. One of the best stories involves a colleague at the gallery named Sarah. She was watching a regional UK auction online for a different lot when she recognised a group of Malay beads from a book and bought them. The teller calls it probably the biggest collection of those beads anyone has seen. The pair also give practical advice. If a piece excites you, step back, do some research and try to see it a second time before buying. Collect too narrowly and the collection may be impossible to sell. Collect broadly around a topic and it keeps its value. They also discuss how the gallery started out as a largely internet-based business while always keeping physical premises, and how offering refunds made buyers comfortable paying for expensive pieces online. Sarah Corbett joins for two quite different subjects. One is African currency objects: pieces that look like blades, spades or hoes but were elaborated until nobody could use them as tools, so they served only as money and eventually came to be seen as art. That talk ends on a lighter note, with a stated preference for a set of iron crosses over a Bitcoin. The other is curiosity, which Backman presents as the reason people keep collecting throughout their lives: they are still learning. Narisa Chakrabongse, a publisher, writer and founder of River Books, provides the show's most personal material. She is a descendant of King Chulalongkorn, whom Backman describes as a great moderniser and reformer, and the conversation covers her English mother, her father the prince, and a royal title that she explains has no neat European equivalent. Another conversation is recorded at her family home in Bangkok, which also takes hotel guests. It wanders to chefs, the risk of one three-course meal too many, and what she has ordered to eat. For a first listen, the African currency conversation best shows the show's habit of reading one object as history, money and art all at once.
Made for: Suits a listener who collects, or is tempted to, and wants practical talk about buying well alongside stories about objects from Africa and Southeast Asia. Also suits anyone who prefers relaxed, friendly conversation to formal lectures.
What sets it apart: The conversations come from inside a working London gallery and its circle of friends. Talk about history sits next to the realities of the trade: auctions, refunds, buying online, and whether a collection can ever be sold.
Exploring the history of the world through the material culture of its people, the nature of collecting, and the role of collectors in the preservation of material culture. See our website www.michaelbackmanltd.com for available non-Western antique artworks, blogs, reels and podcasts.
A silver water pot poses a birthplace question, and your inner auction detective gets a case.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Bangkok family home opens onto royal history, private memory, and the practical work of hospitality.
A Bangkok house opens into a family story shaped by Thai royalty, European ancestry, and a complicated sense of home. At Chakrabong Villas, Narissa Chakrabong sets careful boundaries around the place: it is not a palace, though her father's attachment to Peruskawan Palace still…
A warm, object-led conversation about Asian art, uncertain attribution, and how collections take shape.
Collecting here comes through as a matter of chance, memory, and informed recognition. Michael Backman and Paul Bromberg use a silver Chinese water pot made for the Thai market, Malay beads spotted in a regional UK auction, and the small pressures around buying and keeping…
Scholarly books, patiently made public.
Japanese history, told with sources and bite.
Narisa Chakrabongse says Chakrabong Villas looks grander than it is, because she rebuilt its 1908 atmosphere from cellar finds and old family treasures.
Two collectors discuss a Chinese-made silver water pot made for the Thai market, exploring its origins and significance.
Michael Backman interviews Sigrid van Rood about her book on the jewellery of the Egyptian Zahar cult.
Michael Backman interviews Twip Ritter Napakorn about his new book 'Unseen Burma', which features early photographs from his private collection, exploring the history and material culture of Burma.
Michael Backman and Paul Bromberg examine why collecting can feel like an addiction while remaining distinct from hoarding.
Michael Backman and Sarah Corbett examine African currency objects that sit between barter goods, stored wealth, and art.
Michael Backman and Sarah Corbett examine how people can stay curious, energised, and engaged as they grow older.
Michael Backman interviews Narissa Chakrabong about her life as a descendant of Thai royalty and her work in publishing books on Southeast Asian material culture.