This Little Piggy...

While researching and contacting people during her residency, Jess Wilkins was offered part of a 'pig' collection to redistribute. During Multitude visitors have been putting forward their reason to take ownership of one of these pigs. Those claimed at present are HERE

The letter received with the collection:

The piggy collection belongs to my partner, Michael Bellhouse. It was his late-wife's collection - Margaret died in 2000. In the 25 years they were together, he used to buy her something piggy wherever he went. Soon, everyone else did too. She had over 1000 items all round their house when she died - and it's only a small semi! Mike packed everything away in the loft, wrapped each individual item and put them in boxes. When I met Mike 4 years ago, he wanted to clear the house so that he had more space, and also to move forward with his life, so I helped him to unwrap everything. There were hundreds of ornaments of all sizes, plus kitchen ware, clothes, jewellery, cards, pictures, stationery, books, toys, video's, bedding, etc.

We rented a permanent stall at Botany Bay in Lancashire calling it "Pig and Mix". Mike works as a sign-maker so he made signs with our name and a piggy logo. We have sold about 500 items there, taken about 200 items to Charity shops, and still have some left, even after giving you a boxful.

Mike is happy with his less cluttered home, and would never start another "collection", but he is still a bit of a hoarder, and is slowly learning to be more ruthless in getting rid of anything he doesn't use, rather than keep it just in case he needs it later. Up until his wife died, he had been an active fisherman since his teens and he still has a small outhouse full of fishing gear. He says he is not interested in keeping up with fishing, but he still can't bring himself to part with any of it! Also, his mother, father, step-father and various aunts have left him household stuff (including china tea cups etc) in their wills over the past 10 years or so, which he had kept packed away. Apart from a few personal items for each, he has decided to pass on the rest "to new owners". After we had a succesful carboot sale at Rufforth last Sunday, he has now found a new outlet for all his unwanted stuff.

Anne Jackson, Leeds