COLLECTIA THE WEST

COLLECTING THE WEST Arizona's a collector's paradise.

Along its streets and byways await galleries, shops, and trading posts filled with a variety of collectibles, everything from high-end Navajo rugs and jewelry to the most affordable desert critters entombed in plastic.

In the following pages, our writers circumnavigate the sometimes serious but often comical world of collecting Arizona-style. Lawrence W. Cheek discovers fine Mexican and Spanish crafts and antiques. Barton Wright delivers an introduction to Indian works of art. And Jana Bommersbach takes a look at cowboy treasures and what she brands Classic (you'll-know-it-when-you-see-it) Arizona Kitsch.

Our experts offer helpful tips for seasoned collectors as well as novices, plus some laughs along the way. And - perhaps best of all - they lay to rest Sebastien Chamfort's assertion about those of us who live to collect. The 18th-century French wit said, more or less, that collectors are like people who eat cherries. At first they select only the ripest and juiciest, then they end up pigging out on everything in sight.

Of course, Monsieur Chamfort was talking about a lack of discrimination in collecting verses and epigrams not prime Papago baskets and servicestation glassware. After all, he'd never been tempted by the siren song of a Tucson mercado or the mind-boggling possibilities at Chief Yellowhorse's roadside souvenir stands.He also never talked to our panel of experts. To find out how to get the most - and best - out of collecting, read on. . .