Owner8217;s Pride/Moon Moon Sen

quot;Acquiring objets d'art was never a deliberate exercise, it came to me naturally like the act of walking or talking,quot; says the ...

quot;Acquiring objets d8217;art was never a deliberate exercise, it came to me naturally like the act of walking or talking,quot; says the gregarious film actress, Moon Moon Sen, in her typical singsong voice, reminiscing about the origins of her addiction. quot;Even as a child, I accompanied my father to all the auction houses in Calcutta. The first piece that I remember bringing home is a Persian suit of armor, which I still have.quot;

Sitting in a chiffon sari, in her Mumbai flat, she is surrounded with paintings by old masters of the Bengal school of art, portraits and photographs of her Cooch Behar ancestors-in-law, pictures and sketches of her mother 8212; the legendary star of the Bengali screen Suchitra Sen. Old glass bottles, owls, tropical birds and frogs, papier-mache, avant-garde art masks and busts from the art districts of London, silk rugs and tapestries 8212; even on the ceiling! The house is overflowing, with barely any room to walk.

Over the years she has collected many portraits of the immediatefamily of the Cooch Behar royalty of yore, some with the family crest on a brass plate. quot;The Cooch Behar Palace has been taken over by INTUC. They are restoring it and would like to buy back the original belongings of the palace. Some portraits I will allow them to copy, and some of the black and white paintings I will frame and gift them.quot;

Among the furniture in her house, Moon Moon8217;s favourite piece is none other than her marriage bed 8212; a Tudor bed, heavy and solid. quot;I like to go to old shops and look for old furniture and old jewellery. I sit and have tea with the shopkeepers and talk to them for hours.quot;

Moon Moon attributes her knowledge and eye for collecting to these interludes. quot;I tell my children, whenever you travel find things you like, read about them, ask yourself would you like to have a link to them in your life in some way and only then collect.quot;