| Collection
Rich Kirk
- Philadelphia
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One
of the reasons I
have always loved
to go to the Philadelphia
shell show is because
I can stay at Rich
Kirk's home. He
invites several
other shell friends
to stay over for
the weekend so we
have lots of fun!
His home is beautiful,
built in the 1920s
with a very characteristic
architecture.
Rich
has a very nice
collection, full
of colored and
beautiful shells.
He uses a combination
of metal and
plastic cabinets,
plus a showcase
for larger shells.
His collection
is quite large,
although it seems
he has not much
space left, his
shells are arranged
in a very nice
and unusual way.
I
asked Rich to
write a few words
about his passion:
" I started
collecting shells
when I was four
years old, I
had done something
good one day
(unusual) and
so to reward
me my mom took
me down to the
basement where
she pulled off
a dusty shelf
a round tin can
with a picture
of an Indian
on it. She opened
it, revealing
the contents,
sea shells, which
she said were
from India. She
said I could
pick ONE as my
reward. It took
me an hour to
decide on just
one. That night
I went to the
basement and
stole the whole
can. Its been
like that ever
since! I still
have that first
shell in my collection,
it is a very
small Busycon
sinistrum, and
well, its not
from India, those
shells in that
can were all
from Florida!
I collect marine
shells and fossils.
During the seventies
and eighties
I was primarily
interested in
getting a good
representative
sample of species
from each marine
faunal province,
and the shell
collection is
therefore organized
that unusual
way. My interest
has since evolved
to gathering
good representative
samples of species
from each family.
These days I
seem to get obsessed
with two or three
families, concentrate
on them for a
while, then move
on to other families,
but it is never
a case of losing
interest in everything
else, I love
them all! To
me, shell quality
is not strictly
limited to what
goes into grading
standards. I
gravitate toward
shells that exhibit
special or unusual
qualities. I
also look at
color, pattern,
sculpture, sometimes
the locality
is important,
my reaction to
their aesthetics
is always a deciding
factor! I like
to collect specimens
that contribute
to a series which
show a full range
of qualities
which the species
can produce.
This is a source
of never ending
fascination to
me.
After well over
fifty years of
collecting the
collection is
now extensive
and of course
still growing.
The collection
is now being
photographed
for a book, which
is a rather daunting
task. I have
made arrangements
for my collection
to eventually
go to the Academy
of Natural Sciences."
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