Thank you for visiting my website. My name is Erik Farrow and I am based in San Rafael, California.

My initial interest and collecting of antique weapons has fueled and extended out to the study and appreciation of the tribal cultures that they came from. As I learn about the culture, I have grown to appreciate, collect, and sell other aspects of ethnographic art in addition to the weapons. The other large influence that has helped me greatly in the appreciation, authenticity and value of tribal art is my art restoration business. In 1994 I joined my father, Al Farrow, in the art restoration business that he did as a sideline to his own sculpture. Together we have a business restoring art with a major percentage of our clients in the ethnographic world both as dealers and collectors. This gave me the opportunity to hold in my hands and study a large range of ethnographic art from some of the best dealers and collectors in the Bay Area. This was and still is an invaluable education that would be hard to find elsewhere.

Farrow Fine Art Gallery is located 20 minutes North of San Francisco, California. At my by appointment gallery I show and sell a variety of antique tribal art from Indonesia, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas. I take pride in selling authentic antique tribal art that was made for, and used by the traditional culture the artwork is from. I look for not only the historical importance of a piece, but also for the esthetic artistic quality that will make a piece stand on its own as a good piece of art.

For my personal taste in ethnographic art I am drawn to objects made by warrior clans. The art, weapons and shields of these warrior peoples have a power that is not only seen, but also felt, like an emotion. I feel objects of tribal art are admired for three basic qualities: beauty, form, and power. Beauty and form are things seen with the eye, a matter of personal taste. Power is an unseen force that is felt when in the presence of a piece that was empowered by the maker and the rituals it was used for. I enjoy both beautiful art, and art with great form, but powerful art moves me the most.

Please visit the gallery when in the San Francisco area. You can also contact me by phone or email if you are looking for a particular item. All purchases including those from my web site come with a guarantee of authentication, and satisfaction. It is important to me that the next owner of any artwork is as happy to live with it as I was.

I have always been a collector of something. I think it may be a personality disorder; collectors just can't help themselves. As a kid I collected matchbooks, bottle caps, railroad ties, anything I could find for free. Then I graduated to comic books and pocketknives, and then onto bayonets and military knives. I have always been drawn to blades. At about age 15 people started to give me odd knives from different places around the world, a keris from Java, a kukrie from India, and a sword from Africa. This opened up a whole new world for me. I started looking for exotic weapons, and books on them, and studying the cultures they came from. I found that there are unlimited assortments of weapons available from all around the globe, and I wanted one of each.

I am still working on getting one of each type of antique weapon, but it's a long road. I have found that the harder I look the more I find, and I can't possibly keep all that I find. So in about 1995 I decided to jump the line of just being a collector to becoming a dealer. This has opened up a small but widespread world of people to me, who truly appreciate antique bladed weapons. From art collectors, to martial artists, there are many people looking for a huge assortment of weapons. I like to connect that perfect piece to that perfect person; like I have felt has happened to me so many times before. At the same time always on the lookout for that sword I just can't live without myself.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions, to purchase a sword, to sell a sword, to trade a sword, or just to swap information.

Happy hunting,

Erik

Please buy with confidence, I guarantee your satisfaction. If you are unhappy for any reason with your purchase you may send it back within seven days and your money will be refunded, less the shipping costs.