About The Curator’s Journal
Welcome to The Curator’s Journal, a private notebook made public, where thoughts are gathered, ideas are preserved, and the quiet philosophy behind MLD Trading is allowed to unfold.
I am Matthias L. Deveraux, Curator, collector, observer, and lifelong seeker of the uncommon. For decades, I have wandered through workshops, marketplaces, forgotten corners, and hidden catalogs, guided less by trend than by instinct. I have always believed that the most meaningful objects do not announce themselves loudly. They wait to be noticed.
This journal is where I record what I notice.
What This Journal Is
The Curator’s Journal is a place for reflection, exploration, and quiet discovery.
Here, I share:
Thoughts on craftsmanship, symbolism, and beauty
Observations on business, intuition, and human nature
Insights into the philosophy behind MLD Trading
Glimpses into the process of curation
Occasional behind-the-scenes moments from my ongoing search for remarkable finds
This is not a promotional space.
It is a thinking space.
A place where ideas are allowed to breathe before they ever become objects.
What This Journal Once Was
Before becoming The Curator’s Journal, this space served as the official blog of MLD Trading. It focused primarily on product showcases, announcements, and promotional storytelling, sharing new arrivals, highlighting features, and offering behind-the-scenes looks at sourcing and operations.
It fulfilled its purpose well. It helped introduce thousands of customers to our collections and supported the steady growth of the company.
But over time, I found myself drawn less to promotion and more to contemplation.
Not what we were offering, but why.
Why It Changed
MLD Trading was never built around trends, algorithms, or mass appeal. It was built around instinct.
Every piece in our collection begins the same way, with a pause. A moment of recognition. A subtle sense that something carries weight, meaning, or quiet beauty. This is the essence of curation: not accumulation, but selection.
As that philosophy deepened, it became clear that the most compelling story of MLD Trading was not found in sales or statistics, but in the thoughts that guided each choice.
Thus, The Curator’s Journal was born.
A place to explore those thoughts openly.
The Philosophy of the Curator
I believe that objects carry memory.
That craftsmanship is a form of devotion.
That beauty does not demand attention, it invites contemplation.
And that the most meaningful collections are not assembled quickly.
They are discovered slowly.
This journal exists to capture that slower rhythm, to preserve moments of curiosity, reflection, and wonder in a world that increasingly rushes past them.
An Invitation
You are warmly invited to wander these pages.
Read slowly.
Pause when something resonates.
Return when curiosity stirs.
Some journals record events.
This one records meaning.
-- Matthias L. Deveraux
The Curator of MLD Trading
(Yes, I do notice these things.)