What you’ll learn in this episode: How Chinese export porcelain differs from other types of porcelain Why a true collector is different from a dealer Why deaccessioning is an important process for collectors, even if it’s painful How the endowment effect can make it difficult for collectors to sell their items What factors to consider when donating a collection to a museum About Shirley Mueller Shirley M. Mueller, MD is an internationally known collector and scholar of Chinese export porcelain, as well as a physician board-certified in Neurology and Psychiatry. This latter expertise led her to explore her own intentions while collecting art, which, she discovered, are applicable to all collectors. This new understanding is the motivation for this book. Mueller not only lectures and publishes about the neuropsychology of the collector; she also was guest curator for Elegance from the East: New Insights into Old Porcelain at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now Newfields) in 2017. In this unique exhibit, she combined export porcelain with concepts from neuroscience to make historical objects personally relevant to visitors. Additional Resources: Letting go Inside the Head of a Collector: Neuropsychological Forces at Play On Amazon Inside the Head of a Collector: Neuropsychological Forces at Play--a short video review Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript: When you’re a collector, determining what will happen to your collection in the future is a difficult but necessary process. Whether that means selling, donating or auctioning off your pieces, it’s hard to let go of beloved possessions. As a neuroscientist who studies how collecting impacts the brain (and as an avid collector of Chinese export porcelain herself), Dr. Shirley Mueller knows all too well how bittersweet it is to deaccession a collection. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about her experience auctioning off some of her pieces; why collectors are different from dealers; and what to consider when passing on your collection. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it’s released later this week. Today, my guest is Dr. Shirley Mueller. She is an M.D., Ph.D., professor and neuroscientist. She’s also an internationally known collector and scholar of Chinese export porcelain. She’s the author of “Inside the Head of a Collector: Neuropsychological Forces at Play.” She’s also been our guest on the podcast before. She’s interested in something I have heard a lot of talk about lately, which is deaccessioning a collection. She has done research in this area and has published her research articles in Fine Art Connoisseur and Psychology Today. Today, she’ll talk to us about her own collecting experience, what makes a collector different from others and what she has found out about deaccessioning a collection. Shirley, welcome to the program. Shirley: Thank you, Sharon. It’s great to be here. Sharon: I’m so glad to have you. What was your collecting journey like with export porcelain, which is different than a lot of us? What is export porcelain? Shirley: It was a long journey, not a short journey. I started really in the 1980s, and I have been collecting since then. I think my largest time in terms of spending the most money and devoting the most time was probably the 1990s and early 2000s. After that time I became more selective, so I probably purchased fewer things, but of higher quality. I think most of the pieces I have I purchased early, and then as every collector knows, as we develop, we want more and more choice things. Sharon: Right, yes. Shirley: Which are harder and harder to find. Sharon: And cost more money. Shirley: Exactly. Sharon: Were you young or older when you discovered that you’re a collector? Shirley: I was not a young person. I was in my mid to late 30s. I