The world in the living room

Unique Hobbies

Walk into Lorina G Rowland’s house and you can see the entire world in her three showcases and seven shelves.

The eclectic curio collection comes from across the globe. 

“I collect anything that can fit into my showcase,” she says. Apart from India, she has picked up curios from France, New Zealand, Australia and the USA. It include dolls, trays, a variety of tea-sets, photo frames, showpieces, antique glassware, cups and saucers. And if they are not enough, she has also decorated her house with different kinds of flower bouquets to give her home an ethereal and colourful look. 

Lorina’s culinary items like plates, tea spoons are from France and the jugs, mugs and cups are from New Zealand. She spends most of her time sitting in front of the showcase and admiring her collectibles with the showcase lights on. She picks up items from old, antique stores at Commercial Street also. In fact, she admits that she almost spends the entire day there. 

“My daughter keeps asking me to stop buying more souvenirs because there is no more space in the showcase or the house. My family literally has to drag me away from shops where I stop to buy souvenirs and curios.”

Her much-loved possessions are the tiny models of the dogs because she has two dogs at home. “I have over 100 pieces of different breeds and I can’t pick a favourite,” she says. Her dog collections fall into an array of ceramic, fibre, original black, white whiskey models and even in crystal. 

Lorina prefers giving curios and souvenirs as gifts to her family and friends and feels that the art of collecting items is lost today. She says that maintaining her items don’t take too much time as they don’t gather a lot of dust and cleans them once a month. She has a number of curios on her table as well. 

Originally from Madurai, she has been interested in collecting items since she was four. And now, she has been collecting curios for 35 years. As a child, her collection included buttons, clips, rubber bands and stationery. “I also have a box where I used to collect precious stones and I still have them.” 

Lorina adds that she wouldn’t part away with anything. “I don’t throw away any item even if its break. Once, someone sent me a showpiece of a small duck but the neck was broken. However, I attached a ribbon to it and now, it looks perfectly natural. I miss the collections whenever I go abroad and I’m excited to see them when I come back.”

Even her daughter, who is a research scientist, collects crystal souvenirs like spiders, rabbits, and other animals. Lorina says that the youngsters today are very gizmo-addicted and gadget-attached that they don’t take the time to appreciate art.

 “I call today’s youth the tic-tac-toe generation as they are always into their mobile phones. It’s not necessarily bad but it’s a different world I am seeing.” 

Lorina says that her guests fall in love with her collections instantly as they have never seen something of such variety. “I don’t know where these collections will go once I die but I think they will go on to my daughter because we share the same hobby.”