If you are a collector, you will speak to me of your collection. If you delve deep enough, you will recall visiting museums of fine art or of natural history, your discoveries, your disappointments. The question of research is a preoccupation of yours, as is the development of its collection. In short, we can state unequivocally that all natural objects known to man and any and all artifact are featured somewhere in either a museum or a private collection. I will approach it through the collector himself.
Some animals exhibit astonishing behaviours.
The thieving magpie lines its nest with objects that serve no useful purpose. The South-American viscacha strews various small objects pinched from his pack throughout his burrow which can extend over a few square kilometres. He selects favourite objects and surrounds himself with them. The child identifies with the object he has, plays with it as with a double who survives mischief without coming to harm, serves at once as scapegoat and protective amulet. Its existence confirms that of its owner, its plasticity enables the projection of all situations containing conflict.