Antique Collection: From a Mother's Jug to a Personal Museum

In Cihanbeyli district of Konya, Mehmet Çiftçi, who is 69 years old, has turned his house into a museum with approximately 1600 pieces of antique items that he collected for 10 years, bringing young people together with the past.

Çiftçi, who is a father of five, started displaying copper items that he rescued from being sold to a scrap dealer in a corner of his house 10 years ago. His passion for antiques gradually grew as he started collecting old items around him. His collection reached 1600 pieces with the help of gifts from his relatives and auctions he participated in.

He turned his mountain house, located in Yapalı Neighborhood Kümevler Mountain, into a mountain museum with the slogan "Anything related to the old." Çiftçi, who shared that his father lived in Europe for 25 years and he worked in Germany for 4 years, said he began his antique interest with "Two copper bucket, one jug." He added that during the renovation of his mountain house, he tried to sell the materials used by his mother to the scrap dealer but he prevented it.

Mehmet Çiftçi, said, "I had an interest in the old, my tractor was old and my engine was old too. I found myself in the old. 10 years ago, my mother's two copper bucket and jug were going to be sold to a scrap dealer and replaced with plastic and glass cups. This touched me deeply. Our old culture, our grandmothers, our customs, my mother's gift. I took it, put it in a corner. I started with that. That corner is my most valuable corner." He added that sometimes people around him give him old items as gifts and he participates in auctions to complete the deficiencies in his museum. Çiftçi, who started displaying old items in the garage of his mountain house, said, "As it increased, I built a new house in the mountain. I filled this room, filled the living room, and I am moving on to the other room. Hopefully, I will fill that one too. I am not a scrap collector but I love anything related to the old. I come slowly and ask, 'What was this, what is the history of this, where did this come from?' while I check and clean them by hand. I don't allow anyone to touch the items. My three children are no exception. My friends who hear of my interest also send gifts. For example, my daughter's friend in Poland sent a porcelain plate."