Dubai: After two years of hunting for rare, valuable history pieces from around the world, a British private collector residing in Dubai decided to share his treasures in a new concept considered the first of its kind in the region.
Important pieces from famous figures down through time including antiques, photographs, paintings and statues from 20 different countries are now on display at a new gallery in Dubai opened by Tim Boswell, CEO of Ocean View Real Estate, who first began collecting memorabilia out of passion, but continued on the pursuit believing it a good investment
The gallery, called Ocean View Antiques, Artefacts and Artworks has been offering noteworthy collectables from a cross section of history.
When you first walk in, a multimillion dollar Elvis Presley collection, including his golf cart, his number one piece of jewellery, many items of clothing, two of his guitars and his microphone are displayed in a small section to the right.
“I wanted to bring something new to the region. You can rarely find people interested in selling collectables, and you can rarely find real antiques or letters from Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison, just to name a few, being displayed on sale. Everything in the gallery is what I personally wanted to buy. These are really things that continue to go up in value,” said Boswell, who has been in the UAE for 16 years.
Every piece speaks for itself at the gallery and has a whole historical narrative behind it.
From original photographs and letters by famous presidents, world leaders and politicians to colonial currency notes used by the first 12 states in America, including an extensive Marilyn Monroe collection, these are just a few of the things on display at the gallery.
“I was always interested in history, and I’ve always followed the careers of famous figures from history, but I never thought I would be able to get my hands on such unique items. I’m surprised you can still get these things,” he said. “It took me two years to search and buy all these authentic items.
Boswell said he purchased most of the items from different museums, individual auctions, and collectors in Europe and America and has spent millions of dollars with no regret.
“It gave me a chance to go deeper and learn more about history. A lot of people were trying to stop me from buying these things, but I really do not regret it,” he said.
In his own office room at the gallery, different items that belonged to Lord Nelson, one of Britain’s greatest naval commanders, who died in a battle in 1805, were displayed with great honour.
Swords from 1805, letters written by Lord Nelson, music sheets from his girlfriend, who was a mistress, and other antiques covered the walls and every empty space in the room.
“His actual shoe buckles, which he wore to the last battle he died in, are here in my gallery and are among my favourite items. The shoe buckles were found in 2002 in a big family chest with over 400 items, 200 years after his death. The chest contained items gifted to Lord Nelson including a solid gold sword the King of Egypt gave him when he unblocked the Nile River after Napoleon Bonaparte’s attack,” he said.
Among other valuable items, Boswell considers his favourite to be the Presley’s lion claw pendant, which was manufactured specially for Elvis.
“They call it the holy grail of Elvis Presley. This one of a kind item can be seen worn by him in many of his pictures. I was really lucky to get this because there are only so many people left who you can buy such items from and make sure they are original. This claw was in his official museum for around 30 years,” he said.
Boswell said all the items he bought came with a certificate proving their authenticity. “The claw itself was given to me along with five papers and a certificate containing detailed information going back as far as when and where the lion died.”
In a tour around the gallery, you come face to face with different periods in history through the remarkable items.
Actual photographs of Abraham Lincoln as he was leading up to presidency were hung upstairs in the gallery, John Lennon’s shirt, John Wayne’s cowboy waist coat, maps going back to the 1600 and antique paintings from Europe were all on display.
Boxing gloves signed legendary US boxer Mohammad Ali, a letter from Princess Diana and a 1000 year old statue from Japan can also be found at the gallery.
Boswell said had also recently purchased the whole glass plate negative collection from Harrow school in the UK from 1850 to 1960, included in this are the only photos of Winston Churchill at school, the Thai Royal family, the first Prime Minister of India, King of Jordan, and more, “including over 50,000 negatives never seen before,” he said.
Boswell said he plans on diversifying his collection in order to appeal more to people living in this part of the world.
“I’m trying to learn more about the history of this region and what people in the region would like to collect and have in their homes. We live in a diverse city with over 200 nationalities so it’s hard to cater to all of them, this is why I started to buy what I recognise,” he said.
