Oriental Rug Auctions in Europe
After the Big Bang

To the best of our knowledge, the Big Bang, the moment which we designate as the genesis of all that we know of existence, occurred about 12 billion years ago. Before our nuclei could evolve, however, billions of years of the hellfire of giant fusion reactors, better known as stars, and their eventual explosions as supernovas were necessary to produce the essential elements. It was not until 500 million years ago that the first prokaryote cells on earth laid the ground for what resulted in what we are and what today constitutes our culture and civilization.

Illustration 1. Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers of London sold this rare South Caucasian verneh on February 7.

On our tiny globe, the even tinier rug world is sometimes rocked by occasional strong quakes, their shockwaves reaching areas far. As with major earthquakes, before the disastrous event unleashes its awesome power, harbingers signal the coming cataclysm: small tremors set the china to trembling in the cupboard and the birds stop singing. It is only with hindsight that these small occurrences take on greater meaning. For some time now, the rug world has had a feeling that something dreadful might happen. This was the mood as we approached the end of 1994. The minor tremor seems to have been Eberhart Herrmann's lecture at Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, after the closing of the house's November 1994 auction. The reader of ORR 15/2 may recall my report, for which I have been roundly criticized by a couple of readers (and privately commended by many others). Most of us were too polite to suggest that Europe's top antique carpet dealer had any health problems; his occasional peculiar, erratic, or aggressive behavior was dismissed as flamboyance or whim, but no one dared suggest mental illness. As one of the few attending EH's lecture from beginning to end, I felt obliged to report bare facts for many reasons: Herrmann has always strived to be the very center of the antique rug dealer's world, and his immense financial resources and his superb taste have made his rugs the pivot point of the rug scene. Dealers and pickers all over the world presented him the very best of their finds. His strong influence on the auction market and his ability to determine price levels has been common knowledge for some years. His voracious appetite in the months leading up to his lecture was amazing to all observers and exciting to auction houses and consignors. Even two hours before his lecture, EH had given another striking example of his will to dominate a sales room. ($140,000 for a Karachoph). As EH, to my knowledge, almost never spoke in public outside his antique rug gallery in Germany, I considered his lecture an important event, noteworthy to far distant readers, collectors and dealers, not only for the announced postponement of EH's latest book but mainly for the accompanying circumstances.

The weeks which followed proved that November 12, 1994, marked one of those tremors which precede more powerful ones. It was on December 11, exactly four weeks later, that the Big Bang at Munich launched a chain reaction at Theatiner Street whose percussion still holds the commercial side of the rug business in tension, uneasiness and trouble. The facts are that, while his annual exhibition was still running, EH cleared his gallery of all his rugs and carpets. He and his rugs eventually found their way to Emmetten, near Luzerne in Switzerland, where his new company is named TIAFIT. Lawyers are reputed to be earning fortunes. EH has only partially paid for the lots he had won at the fateful Rippon Boswell sale. Unwritten rules between the auction house, consignors, and buyers have been broken. That trust, so necessary between all participants at the high end of the rug business, has been breeched.

So began 1995. All who were involved in the antique rug business cast a watchful eye upon the winter and spring auctions. Of course, not every downtrend or failure to sell can be attributed to a single, powerful dealer who refrains from buying for a while, one who has so much inventory that he can be self-sufficient for a couple of years.

Lot 3, an 18th century Caucasian silk embroidery, 81x73 cm, with a large copper-red octagonal medallion on a dark brown field and radiating floral ornaments, was complete with its two narrow borders. Despite its estimate of £2,000-3,000, it raised no interest. The crowd must have been asleep because, in the April auction, the same Lot sold for £2,500.

A rare South Caucasian verneh, Lot 5, 323x158, estimated £1,500-2,500, was knocked down at £3,200, still a bargain (Illustration 1, no similar examples of this color and design appear in the literature).

Phillips offered 49 rugs and carpets, most of them decorative Persian pieces, of which 61 percent sold by number of pieces.

A fine Daghestan runner, Lot 9, 302x88, estimated £2,500-3,500, which has been offered again and again, but still title did not change hands. The pattern is so precisely symmetrical, even colorwise (medachyl guard borders, leaf and calyx main border, yellow field of two rows of geometrical Kyrdagyd motifs), that it resembles a machine-made product. This piece is so static that the observer's eye has no focal point from which even minute details and variations can be discerned; the control of the medium is so severe that the imagination of a creative weaver must have been stifled.

My hypothesis is that the fewer the number of repeats and the smaller the size of each repeat, the rug was simply being built by linear translation (repetition) of the basic pattern and with strewn filler designs omitted, the more boring a rug will be. If a strict color symmetry prevails, this monotony is enhanced even more. This rule is not without limits, otherwise Persian pictorial rugs would be aesthetically on the top of the list. Maybe our brain prefers symmetry. Mathematicians and theoretical physicists confirm that symmetry is a constitutional element in the universe. By the same token, small disturbances of symmetry are also vital, else the universe would consist of neither matter nor anti-matter but of radiating energy alone. No rugs, no collectors, no fun.

Back to Phillips: Qashqa'i saddle bags must have been woven by the thousands, the most common design being the one with hooked hexagonal medallion and a white (Talish) rosette in the center (see Black/Loveless, Woven Gardens, no. 1726). Lot 18, complete, is such a piece and sold at its lower estimate for £600.

The much rarer, complete saddle bag, Lot 19, (a coarser bag face was illustrated in Woven Gardens as No.44) sold astonishingly low for £650.

My symmetry hypothesis was challenged by Lot 40, an antique Daghestan/Kuba rug, 131x108, (estimated £1,500-2,000) with a kufic border, almost identical to Schürmann's Tadik Konagkend, plate 104, with the copper-red field in a grid of pendant lozenge motifs like Schürmann's Derbend plate 135. The well known design found a buyer interested enough to pay £1,800.

The highest price was made by an 18th century Brussels tapestry, Lot 46, 331x326, depicting the personification of water; estimated £6,000-8,000, it sold at the high estimate.

On April 25, when all major auction houses had scheduled their sales, Phillips came up with 57 rugs, carpets, and tapestries; 67 percent of them were sold, 28 percent within the estimates and 23 percent above.

A Ziegler carpet, Lot 26, 409x319, its medium blue field with an all-over of palmettes, shield motifs, leaves and vines, fetched the highest price at £8,500, £500 above the high estimate. Five tapestries were in the sale, three of them fragmented but all except one sold.

Lot 55, 370x555, a 17th century Flemish tapestry, illustrating the triumphal procession of a Roman Emperor, not unlike the parades in Moscow's Red Square, made the highest price of the sale, almost twice the high estimate at £15,000.

A fine Louis Phillipe Aubusson tapestry carpet, Lot 57, 540x410, followed suit, 10 percent above the high estimate and sold for £13,500.

As the Lira currency rate consists of many zeroes, I note the approximate value as $1 = 1,630 Lira.

An East Anatolian rug, Lot 13, 208x110, with old repairs (for a similar one see Eskenazi, L'Arte del Tappeto Orientale, plate 63), sold above the lower estimate for $3,680. Another East Anatolian rug from the 19th century, Lot 15, 162x133, (see Eskenazi no. 64) did not sell.

A rare, white ground Seichur, precisely drawn with two complete St. Andrew crosses, "running dog" outer border, Lot 19, 184x108 (see Hali 62, pg. 95, No. 23), also brought $3,680 against an estimate of $4,900-6,100. The price seemed to be very moderate compared to a similar piece at Christie's London in April 1986, Lot 51, which then sold for $8,250. Buyer appreciation of this Seichur was similar to that of a strongly corroded one which fell at a hammer price of $3,430 at Nagel, Stuttgart, four weeks later.

A trend has been obvious since 1994 to neglect 19th century Caucasian rugs; but simultaneously this attitude is an invitation to collect at more reasonable prices. Even Star Kazaks of the C-type fragments are ignored. So Lot 34, 145x135, at an unrealistically low estimate of $18,400, failed to sell.

A 17th century Transylvanian rug, Lot 95, 162x124, with a double niche empty red field and yellow border with red and ivory cartouches, had been repaired. It sold 20 percent below the low estimate at $6,140.

A real rarity at a ridiculously low price was a 17th century Portuguese Arraiolos rug, Lot 107, 192x100, with some old repairs. Its dark blue yellow central medallion with eight eight-pointed stars radiating from the center was flanked by four checkerboard patterned birds and flowers; from the corners tulips were directed toward the center, and its blue border displayed a cloud collar design. This genuine European production offered a variety of examples of the Ottoman court weaving. At $5,220 the buyer had every right to be happy.

It is difficult indeed to win market share against the established auction houses. But what else should a consignor do with his less esteemed rug? Use it under the car when he changes the oil?

Sotheby's assortment of rugs and textiles was good but not outstanding, a relative term, of course. Our request to borrow transparencies to illustration this report got no response. On the phone we learned that Sotheby's charges a lot for each tranny.

So you'll have to trust me when I say that Lot 26, an 18th century Shakhrisyabz suzani in silk embroidery on linen foundation, was extraordinary. Measuring 264x185, it was estimated £8,000-12,000 but sold for £27,000, the second highest price of the sale. Arabesques of small palmettes on golden ground were surrounded by 12 large red blossoms; the rendering of the design was far more artistic than examples cited in Bausback, Suzani (1981), pg. 43 or Hali 41, pg. 47.

None of the textiles, double bags (one in silk), brocades and soumakhs (Lots 27-37) raised any interest in the sale room.

One may congratulate the consignor of Lot 51, an A-type Star Kazak, 195x130, because he got rid of this ugly piece and even got money for it (£14,000 on an estimate of £15-20,000).

There were 36 more Caucasian rugs from the turn of the century and 20 of them found new homes.

Unlike Lot 51, Lot 46, a Chajli rug, was a real eye pleaser. Of traditional patterning, this 265x122 rug was estimated £4,000-5,000 and was knocked down at £7,200.

Lot 48 served up three medallions of Memling-gul octagons on a green field. Dated 1902, with traditional borders, a good length/width relation of 232x185, it was estimated £2,500-3,500 and sold for £4,800, a very reasonable and justified price. Not as repellent as Lot 51 was Lot 54, a Kazak rug, 330x135, estimated £4,000-6,000, which remained where it has been. The Caucasian weaver must have been strongly influenced by a Turkoman: the dark blue field was filled by eight pairs of Salor guls (see Turkmen, plate 4), divided by Caucasian minor devices, surrounded by a Saryk type border, and altogether in multicolored shades.

A real block buster was Lot 89, an 18th century Yomud rug, 225x170, estimated £12,000-15,000. Technical aspects, except its cotton weft, allowed this rare piece to be attributed to Eagle Group I. Along five vertical axes, an array of various unusual design elements of palmettes, stylized blossoms, and Kepse like ornaments are positioned, and are surrounded by a reciprocal arrowhead border. The rug seems to be a transitional piece, falling between Caucasian prototypes and later Yomud versions. It was fascinating for its rarity and its potential for revealing art historical information, but not for its beauty. Despite its partially worn condition, high interest in this white elephant drove the price up to £32,000. All the other Turkoman pieces were far from that lucky. A Yomud asmalyk, Lot 95, 130x80, with a wedding caravan on white ground above a grid of ashik motifs, did not find a buyer; it was estimated £14,000-18,000.

Part of the Loges Collection was again on the block. This time the Salor main carpet was offered for £8,000-10,000; its first trial at Nagel, Stuttgart placed it at about £52,000. But again it fell into a deep hole. Of a total of 25 pieces, only three were sold. At the Thompson Turkoman sale in New York the powder was still dry but, after Nagel auction house failed to sell the collection, it would have been a wiser strategy to wait for more happy days. But hindsight is 20/20.

Even a 16th century Karapinar long rug, Lot 184, 403x115, whose madder ground held three saffron-lobed stepped medallions, its field with inward turned tulips, flowerheads and bud motifs, which not long ago would have ignited bidding fights, lay idle at an estimate of £25,000-35,000.

While only 34 percent of the 151 tribal and village rugs were sold, 48 percent of 111 carpets found a buyer. The total sale, including books and buyers premium, yielded £738,396 with 43 percent of all lots selling.

Among the 62 silk Chinese textiles (94 percent sold), we liked a finely woven kossu (kilim) depiction of a busy river scene, islands and mountains; Lot 112, 99x71, 19th century, sold deservedly for £3,800 against an estimate of £400-600. The highest price of the day and in this section was brought by a Ming period silk embroidery, Lot 121, 47x25, depicting a white deer supporting the bottom part of the Shou character. Estimated £4,000-6,000, it sold for £4,000.

Other sections included Japanese costumes and textiles, textiles from the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire, the Indian sub-continent and Central Asia, including ikats, suzani and shawls.

Of the many Safavid period fragments, of particular interest was Lot 222, a late 16th century 162x112 panel of weft-faced gold cloth with repeating, offset flower vases and pairs of butterflies above. It sold between both estimates for £3,500. Again I wish to emphasize that collecting textiles still is a wide open field, inviting for beginners, for those excited by ethnologic quests and who admire artistic crafts. Plus it's much more convenient than collecting Bijars. Indian Miniatures, Qur'an folios, portrait pictures, qalamdans (papier maché boxes), Persian metal work, daggers, ceramic dishes, bottles and tiles, and more were auctioned on April 25. The most spectacular of the 252 lots had to be Firdousi's Shahnameh, the famous "Book of Kings," 551 pages on buff paper with text richly illuminated, and 22 miniatures of three artists in Shiraz style, circa 1570 (the missing 13 miniatures are in various museums in London and in the United States). Estimated at £50,000-70,000, it eventually was knocked down at £360,000 (more than $580,000).

On the afternoon of April 27, 244 lots of rugs and carpets were offered. Most of the literature was sold above the high estimate. Something really special for the bibliophile was Lot 407, two volumes of F. Sarre's Oriental Carpets, published in Vienna 1892-6, in luxurious Moroccan binding. The estimate of £4,000-5,000 was surpassed by a hammer price of £7,500.

The rugs and carpets sale can be called a success, running against the current trend. About 70 percent by number of the 103 collectible rugs sold and 60 percent of the carpets.

A late 18th century Bergama, Lot 438, 264x160, with a sea-green, stepped lozenge on a brick-red field, light blue spandrels and yellow border with polychrome cartouches, similar to Markarian Album, plate 6, did not find anyone who loved it enough to pay £4,000-6,000.

Pinwheel Kazaks are not as rare as their prices some years ago made us believe. Thus a late example with a traditional pattern, rewoven at both ends and with areas of repair, Lot 443, 241x170, was knocked down between the estimates for £4,000.

Illustration 2. Christie's Salor juval, Lot 451

A part silk Salor juval in good condition, Lot 451, 81x135, (Illustration 2), its field bearing three Salor guls, sold between the estimates of £4,000-9,000 for £8,000.

Many of the lots of Anatolian, Caucasian, Persian and Turkoman rugs were good examples of their 19th century origin. However, most were without specific merit, often low in pile and/or repaired. As they were moderately priced, they were attractive and were hammered down at or below the lower estimate.

Even a well known example from a 1985 exhibition in Munich's Museum für Völkerkunde (Volkmann 1985, plate 61), did not find determined bidders; Lot 467, a 236x124 Genje with a repeat of polychrome concentric hooked hexagons within a hexagon grid, sold within the moderate estimates for £4,000.

Unusual and peculiar pieces seem to be more attractive than beautiful ones. An unusual Chinese carpet, Lot 478, 471x354, its shaded blue field filled with five-clawed ivory dragons chasing two flaming pearls, ivory roundels, butterflies, and Chinese characters in the blue main border, was deemed very desirable by bidders. It found a new home when it sold for £13,000, well above the estimates of £6,500-7,500.

More understandable was the £16,000 price paid for a distinguished Khotan carpet, Lot 481, 326x178, with 3x7 cassettes of octafoils on a brick-red field, an inner "Yun Tsai T'ou" border, and a yellow border with widely spaced flowerheads. It was estimated at £10,000-15,000. (For a related example, see E. Herrmann, vol 10, pl. 115).

Illustration 3. The highest price of Christie's sale was fetched by Lot 494, a Zareh penyamin Koum Kapi rug.

The highest price of the sale was fetched by a Zareh Penyamin Koum Kapi rug, Lot 494, 246x132, (Illustration 3), woven after the Safavid original and in excellent condition. The £20,000-30,000 estimate was exceeded, and it sold for £38,000. Another Koum Kapi Hagop Kapoudjian silk prayer rug, Lot 499, 193x130, was twice signed "Hagop". Its red mihrab with scrolling vines and white cloud collars was framed by a yellow inscription band, the main border in lower half with scrolling palmette arabesques, the upper half with three inscribed cartouches. Its prototype can be found in a 16th century Tabriz prayer rug (Dimand/Mailey, Oriental Carpets, fig. 121) and a 19th century prayer rug in the Topkapi Museum (Topkapi Carpets pl. 18). It went a little under the lower estimate for £20,000.

Turkoman rugs are still bought very selectively. Of 12 rugs offered, only three found new homes. Caucasians went better in this sale.

An extraordinary 18th century white ground Karabagh (Illustration 4), Lot 527, 427x196, shows strong connections to early Caucasian blossom carpets, Caucasian embroideries, especially the medallion, and to Persian prototypes. Despite its battered condition and the fact that it had been reduced in length and width, the bidding reached the lower estimate and the hammer went down at £12,000.

Illustration 4. An extraordinary 18th century white ground Karabagh, Lot 527.

We must not fail to mention an unusual Afshar carpet, Lot 534, 414x238, whose red field displayed diagonal rows of polychrome botehs, with smaller botehs above and below. In the lower half, the light blue botehs are of cotton, while in the upper half they change to darker blue wool. An Afshar-maniac was not deterred by the £3,500-4,000 estimate and eventually coughed up £14,000 for it.

The town carpets from Tabriz, Heriz, Kashan, Isfahan, Sarough, Bakhtiari, and Kerman have their dealer clientele and were sold for about their estimates.

Illustration 5. A carpet of merit and noteworthy provenance was Lot 574, a Khorrasan multiple prayer carpet whose detached corner was Lot 575.

A carpet of merit and noteworthy provenance (Paulette Goddard, former wife of Sir Charles Chaplin) was a Khorassan multiple prayer carpet, Lot 574, 664x452, estimated £20,000-30,000. (Illustration 5) Its red field bore four rows of five alternating ochre and light blue prayer panels. One corner was reduced, but the missing corner showed up as the following lot, No. 575. A similar fragment was in E.Herrmann's 1989 exhibition (ATTK vol. 1, pl. 72). The damage and large areas of wear may have been the reason that the hammer fell at £26,000 (Lot 574) and £2,000 (Lot 575).

Christie's sale on the last day of London's Islamic auction week seemed to foreshadow a silver streak on the horizon of the collectors' auction market.

The first 19 lots were Chinese textiles. Lot 1, seven small fragments in silk and wool from the Tang dynasty, 7th century, were estimated DM4,000 and sold for DM6,000.

Lot 6, a late Ming silk weaving of five four-clawed dragons among flaming pearls and Buddhist symbols on blue ground, 141x197, with gold and silver threads, was estimated DM9,000 and sold for DM10,000.

An amazing steal was an 18th century silk brocade of geometric devices with gold and silver threads, 153x76, which went for the low estimate of DM600.

A 19th century kesi (kilim) silk weaving of a pair of ducks under a rock and plants, estimated DM1,800, was worth DM7,500 to a telephone bidder from the Far East. There were more moderately priced kesi and silk brocades.

A fragment of an imperial official's robe with a phoenix on a rank badge and a dragon of couched gold threads on blue ground in glowing colors, framed by a brocade border, Lot 18, 106x70, also went to the telephone for DM1,000 (estimated DM550).

The highest price of the morning session was DM140,000, made by two Japanese robe trunks (hasamibako), Lot 439, 36x63x45, circa 1800, with escutcheons of the Tokugawa dynasty.

This very successful sale, with 77 percent of the more than 800 lots sold, raised hopes for an exciting and inspiring rug auction in the afternoon.

The first 70 lots of books seemed to continue the morning's engaged bidding when 96 percent of them gave their buyers a reason to have come to Stuttgart. At Nagel auctions, rugs are auctioned strictly in order of country of origin. Many of the Chinese rugs were from the Lorentz collection; they had been published in his book, and they attracted new owners.

A rare, complete Khotan saddle bag, Lot 1052, circa 1900, estimated DM2,500, failed to sell, maybe because of its synthetic-looking fiery red dye.

The next section of Anatolian rugs and kilims offered no highlights. A worn, battered, heavily repaired medallion Ushak, Lot 1053, 400x171, estimated DM6,000, may have induced a bidder to pay DM13,000 plus premium because of provenance: it was said that the Ushak had been in the possession of Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany.

When the Caucasian rugs came up, we were alert to see if last November's sluggish bidding would continue. The first of them, a mint condition Karachoph with green field and red border, with a strong green abrash in the lower part of the field, but otherwise brilliant colors and design, Lot 1069, 218x163, was estimated at DM19,000. It was acquired by a German collector at a deserved price of DM25,000.

Illustration 6. Nagel's Lot 1071 was an interesting 19th century Kazak.

Lot 1071 was an interesting 19th century Kazak, (Illustration 6) 205x130; its three hooked octagonal medallions were rendered in green/white/green in a pattern seen in Star Kazaks in the red medallions flanking the blue central star (see Tschebull, Kazak, front cover). The red field bearing many small elements was surrounded by a yellow main border. The rug has dark blue wefts. Estimated according to its condition at DM2,000, it sold for DM3,800 and went to Izmir.

Amazingly, sometimes high visibility rugs, published and/or from highly regarded exhibitions, are blatantly disregarded. This happened to Lot 1073, a 19th century Kazak/Genje, 367x131, published by Bausback in 1975, pg. 186, and again in the Spuhler-König-Volkmann catalogue of the 1978 exhibition at the Museum für Völkerkunde, Munich, plate 57, and most recently in E. Herrmann vol. VII, pl. 20. The long narrow field with red/green reciprocal arrowheads along a central stem, resembling a tree of life, as well as its floral white border, still make it a masterpiece. Has taste changed so dramatically that not even half of the already moderate estimate of DM12,000 was reached?

The rare white ground Seichur, Lot 1085, 164x95, had a low estimate of DM1,600 because all its brown was corroded and it had several repairs, but a collector knew the real value and took it home for DM4,800.

A Zakatala, Lot 1094, 235x119, with dull colors, estimated DM3,200 remained with its consignor.

Half of 17 Persian and Turkoman saddle covers found new owners, while Most Persian town rugs sold.

Surprisingly, considering the Christie's sale, there was a good response to Turkoman ensi and juvals. Here a Tekke juval, Lot 1177, with 4x4 juval guls and a skirt of floral motifs, looked like Degas's impressionist dancers. Its estimate was more than doubled and the juval went to a telephone bidder for DM5,500.

Illustration 7. Two determined bidders drove the price of Nagel's Lot 1206, a nice but worn and damaged Bakhshaish, higher and higher to DM20,000.

Something extraordinary happened when Lot 1206, (Illustration 7) a 330x280 Bakhshaiesh, came on the block. The field design was unique with three rows of floral and zoomorphic motifs, interspersed by small blossoms and ornaments. The camel hair pile was partly worn, with cuts and damage to the border, justifying an estimate of DM900. However, two determined bidders, one from Germany and the other from Italy, drove the price higher and higher until the Italian gave up at DM20,000.

The following Lot 1207, 330x265, also a rare Bakhshaiesh, was of more conventional pattern. It had been sold by E. Herrmann to the consignor and was now worth the estimate of DM35,000.

No interest was evident for ikats.

A 17th century Brussels tapestry, Lot 1215, went to the phone at the estimate of DM9,500, while a 94x24 Safavid brocade, Lot 1220, with offset rows of long stem flowers on golden ground, sold for DM2,600 to the sale room. A Kaitag embroidery with a long lobed medallion on white ground surrounded by small blue roundels went at DM5,500 to a bidder in the room, DM1,000 below the estimate. Three good Uzbek Lakai embroideries fetched moderate prices.

With 66 percent of the rugs sold, this auction was not bad, but there were neither high flying pieces nor crazy prices. It spread the impression that prices are about to find a lower water table. In the long run, this is more encouraging than if a few top notch buyers dominated the scene.

Opening the sale, Detlef Maltzahn reminded the room that pieces sold can only be removed from the premises when they have been paid for in full. This rule has always been part of the company's policies, albeit it has often been relaxed between business partners who have long proven their trustworthiness. Unfortunately, the Maltzahns' good faith has been taken advantage of recently. Again, none of the 22 book lots went back to their consignors. Of the 247 rugs there were some without a reserve and many tribal weavings, bags and mafrash, creating good opportunities for bargain hunters and dealers. A foreign dealer won 33 pieces by commission bids; a German dealer was more moderate, buying 11 pieces. There are many reasons why rugs show up and a potential buyer inevitably has to come to the preview. If a consignor wishes a quick sale, or if small tribal pieces of average quality are offered, or the later rugs, or rugs in low pile, one has to come, look and see. Most prices had been in a DM3,000 range.

Another example of the present downtrend for Caucasian rugs was Lot 50, an Akstafa prayer rug, 186x90, which had appeared at the Dominguez sale at Rippon Boswell in March 1992 as lot 140, then estimated DM18,500 and which sold for DM13,000. Now carrying an estimate of DM13,500, it went to the bulk-buying foreign dealer for DM8,500, not a very promising omen for this sale.

For the May 20 sale, selections were well balanced and illustrated in a catalogue: 26 were from Anatolia, 65 from Persia, 43 from the Caucasus, and 29 from Central Asia, with 55 more pieces in a late entry list not illustrated. About 53 per cent of all pieces were sold, with some still to be negotiated when the bidder had not reached the reserve.

There were not as many foreign dealers present in the room as were last year. We saw Berji Andonian from New York, Clive Loveless, London, Yeramian, Den Haag, and Hans Elmby from Denmark -- maybe there were others, but the majority of the sale room was occupied by private buyers, or should we rather say viewers.

Of course, the 19 book lots sold well. The three-volume Grote-Hasenbalg made DM1,000 (DM750); McMullan DM1,300 (DM1,000); L.Kerimov, Azerbaijan Carpets, Russian edition 1961 for DM800 (DM475); Sarre/Trenkwald, two folios, DM4,200 (DM4,500); and E. Schmutzler, Altoriental Teppiche in Siebenbürgen DM2,200 (DM3,000). This was a very good opportunity to complete one's library.

Illustration 8. Due to low pile in places and reduction at one end, Rippon Boswell's Lot 12 went to a happy Dutch dealer for DM2,900

The third of the rug lots, a 294x120 Shahsavan long rug, Lot 12, (Illustration 8), had a glowing red field, a contrasting excellently drawn white main border and a field design well known from Shahsavan bags. Due to low pile in places and reduction at one end, the piece went to a happy Dutch dealer for DM2,900 against an estimate of DM4,500.

A late Pinwheel Kazak, Lot 16, 213x160, displayed the usual pattern and a strongly abrashed field. It did not reach its reserve at an estimate of DM18,500.

Illustration 9. Sharkoy kilim from the European part of Anatolia, Lot 34, was sold by Rippon Boswell for DM14,000

The Sharkoy kilim (Illustration 9) from the European part of Anatolia, Lot 34, 268x215, had a striking and unusual pattern (Illustration 7) as well as a bright color palette. It was acquired by a German collector for DM14,000 (estimated DM14,500).

Seven Chinese pillar rugs made up half of the Chinese lots, their estimates ranging between DM14,500 and DM24,000. Four of them sold. The trapezoid shaped one, Lot 40, 321x169, went to a German dealer for DM12,000, DM5,000 below estimate.

A further example of the dip in prices for Caucasian collectible rugs was demonstrated by Lot 51. This 207x156 Kazak had a red field with three medallion-like ornaments of crossed short trees and diagonal indented leaves. A very similar piece is illustrated in Bausback 1978, pg. 165. In excellent condition, this rug had been sold in the 1980s by Rippon Boswell in Frankfurt for DM36,000. This afternoon, with an estimate of just DM20,000, it was sold for only DM17,000. The almost square Kuba Sumakh, from the mid-19th century, Lot 55, 267x256, had five columns of offset rows of small diamond medallions on a red field. In good condition, it was knocked down to the telephone for DM14,000 (estimated DM15,000). The unbelievably low, provisional hammer price of DM3,500 for a very good Shakrisyabs suzani with two ascending stems of flowers, Lot 58, 236x162, estimated DM8,500, was later finalized at DM4,500.

Four early Anatolian key lots made good prices. A 17th century Karapinar, Lot 79A, 429x115, estimated DM95,000, sold for DM84,000 and a complete Bird Ushak, circa 1600, Lot 147A, 196x133, estimated DM50,000, sold for DM62,000. A German dealer secured the two other Anatolian key lots against competitors. Lot 67 was an 18th century Kütahya kilim, 336x156, made of one piece, plain blue, red and brown stripes and white Parmakli motifs (see Herrmann 8, pl. 15); it cost him DM11,000 against an estimate of DM15,000. He also got a far rarer 17th century Karapinar, Lot 68, 172x138. The Karapinar had a blue medallion on a free red field, green spandrels, and a narrow blue border. A similar rug is depicted in Spuhler, Museum Islamic Art Berlin, pg. 167. Despite its many good repairs, the bidding exceeded the estimate of DM16,000 until the hammer went down at DM26,000.

Several Nazca pieces met with no interest.

An Afshar rug almost identical to Herrmann 6, pl.67, Lot 95, 251x146, sold for the ridiculous price of DM8,300 (estimated DM12,000) to a commission bid.

Illustration 10. Shirvan, Lot 101, was extraordinary

A "Tschebull-plate-40 type" rug of Shirvan structure, Lot 101, 274x139, was extraordinary as it had four pairs of Memling guls at each side of the white medallion on a blue field. Horror vacuui inspired the weaver to fill the field with Talish rosettes and small elements (Illustration 10). The rug was worn in places, but was easily restorable, and exceeded its estimate of DM18,000 at DM24,000.

Now and then Turkoman bokces show up. Here we had a white ground piece in good condition which sold to a commission bid for DM9,000 (estimated DM11,500). The 295x100 Lenkoran long rug, Lot 118, with its seven strong Memling-gul octagons and the impressive red/white medachyl border, illustrated in Eskenazi pl. 110, was estimated moderately at DM9,500. It earned not so much as a nod at the initial call of DM6,000.

The once much sought-after white ground asmalyks tried to find a new price niche. Lot 121, the seven-angular Yomud asmalyk illustrated in Turkmen 1980, no. 77. and again in Herrmann ATTK 4, 1992, no. 93a, 128x83, estimated DM80,000, sold to the room at DM75,000 against commission bids. On the other hand, a Yomud carpet, Lot 125, 245x175, with a striped pattern, similar to Yomud kilims, exceeded its remarkable estimate of DM30,000 and went to a commission bid for DM32,000. Khans, leaders of southwest Persian tribes, did not live in tents in peace time. When they received gifts from the families of their tribes, those were often carpets of extremely high quality, larger than nomadic pieces. Lot 127, a 386x165 Qashqa'i carpet, was surely made for a Khan. On its white field is spread a Persian Herati pattern, a large central medallion with two pendants and a modified Shah Abbas border, its beautiful design only exceeded by its wonderful color scheme. A similar, albeit shorter Khan carpet is illustrated in Black/Loveless, Woven Gardens, no. 6. Before bidding reached the estimate of DM65,000, however, interest waned at DM55,000, leaving this marvelous piece unsold.

A good mid-19th century rug in high pile, attributed technically to Genje, otherwise called a classical Kazak, had formerly been on the block in London. With 4x5 polychrome Memling guls in octagons filling the field and surrounded by a narrow Star Kazak A-type border, Lot 143 sold to the room for DM18,000 (estimated DM24,000).

The well known Moghan camel caravan shaddah cover, in mint condition, with sections faded from fuchsine dye (i.e. 19th century), remained well below its high estimate of DM36,000 and sold for DM25,000.

A German collector paid DM16,000 for another rare Verneh, Lot 187, 205x170, estimate DM19,500. Made of one piece in red, blue and yellow warps, it was decorated with small lozenges and comb-like protrusions from the blue into the flanking red and yellow parts (a related one in Herrmann SOT 10, no. 51, however without yellow sides). Once the piece is washed, its colors will glow incredibly.

Illustration 11. Sleeping Beauty, a 16th century Lotto rug, rejoined the rug world after more than 100 years!

Like Sleeping Beauty, a 16th century Lotto rug, (Illustration 11), was heretofore unpublished because it had slumbered for more than 100 years in a German collection. Lot 147, 170x110, is very similar to the Lotto in the Ballard Collection, St. Louis, pl. 22. Estimated DM50,000, it sold to the telephone for DM42,000. We hope to see it again before another century has passed.

This sale was not very satisfactory for the auction house. As previously mentioned, the sale consisted of a good balance among countries of origin, collectible items, age, condition, function (rugs, textiles, bags, saddle covers, and so on), and estimated prices. That only about 53 per cent of the lots found a new owner may be attributable to several reasons. Since 1994, there has been some instability in the German market; people in Germany think more carefully about spending under the present political and tax burdens, where no light at the end of the tunnel is to be seen. Within the European Union, the economic situation is not much different; each country has its own problems, many of them severe. Antique rug and carpet dealers have no lack of merchandise. A minority do their most lucrative business mainly in 16th to 18th century Lottos, Transylvanian or Dragon carpets, and even the majority of their inventory consists of good 19th century rugs and carpets. On the other hand, sale publicity was directed at clients of the minority of dealers who might wish to expand or maintain the value of their fabulous collections. Collectors of 19th century tribal and nomadic pieces became intimidated by the exclusivity of such publicity; they are not being cultivated or encouraged, coaxed or caressed, and the types of weavings the majority of collectors seek are not mentioned by the opinion makers. Private collectors with internationally renowned collections should recognize that the value of their collections is best sustained, in the long run, when there is a wide base of younger collectors who assemble a growing number of pieces of increasing quality, which are affordable to them. The tip of the pyramid needs the wide base under it

With regard to the current realignment of pricing to the more realistic levels of 25 years ago, regardless of the negative ramifications to some this is a positive trend. Erratic price fluctuations harm a continuous process, even if they are justified in individual cases. The EH-effect is not presently obvious, and it boggles the imagination to think that the worldwide market might be driven by the acts of exaggerated self-confirmation of a single individual. Now is the time for rug enthusiasts to get into the market as buyers.

The front cover piece, Lot 16, was a 17th century Azerbaijan embroidery, 114x72. Estimated £10,000-15,000, it was knocked down at £11,000.

A large (595x535) Agra carpet, circa 1870, Lot 48, the crimson field an overall design of palmettes, cloudbands and vine tendrils, made the second highest price at £110,000 (estimated £40-60,000).

The yellow field, 17th century Dragon carpet, Lot 68 -- 391x179, cotton warp and weft, 2000 knots per square decimeter, 11 colors, some wear -- was one of the few selling at £20,000, well below the estimate of £40,000-60,000.

The Hammersmith carpet, Lot 86, 495x475, fetched the highest price of the sale at £125,000, well above the estimate of £60,000-100,000.

Large Caucasian carpets are quite rare and so Lot 106, a circa 1890 460x325 Kuba carpet, with diagonally positioned overall polychrome star guls on a blue field, soared to £22,000 against an estimate of £5,000-7,000.

Another Agra carpet, Lot 197, 448x310, with palmettes and vine tendrils on a crimson field, sold for £62,000 (estimated £20,000-30,000). What can be better than a sale at double?

The Daghestan long rug, discussed in the report of the February 7 sale (Lot 9), appeared now as Lot 13 and with an estimate £1,000 lower than last time, and sold ultimately for £2,400.

The Benlian Tabriz carpet, Lot 36, 558x372, with an eight-pointed star logo in one corner, the rose-red field with palmettes, vines and wild animals, and a yellow inscribed inner border, was cheap at £5,000 (estimated £6,000-8,000).

Average pieces remained unnoticed.

Anticipation is high for the September sale when an early 17th century Safavid silk velvet and metallic thread panel, 138x70, estimated £20,000-25,000, will come on the block. The Wrangel Bridal Carpet, a circa 1620 Safavid silk and metal thread Polonaise rug, 193x132, estimated £30,000-50,000, will be sold on October 3.

The 28 Caucasian rugs fared even more poorly with only 29 percent sold; of 44 decorative Persian rugs and large carpets, 18 of them were given away. The silk Tabriz carpet, Lot 1336, 615x420, estimated sfr.65,000-95,000, fetched the highest price at sfr.60,000.

Only one piece of 11 Anatolian rugs sold, and the restored 17th century Transylvanian rug also failed to sell.

Five pieces of 22 Turkoman and Baluch rugs found new owners.

This sale was far from average. A dim bit of light left over from the furniture sale shone through when Lot 1042, a large (400x560) tapestry showing Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in battle, went to a private buyer between its estimates of sfr.60,000-90,000 for sfr.70,000.

Lot 173, here called Moghan, 208x136, its yellow field a grid with blossoms, estimated sfr.8,000-10,000, found a new home for sfr.7,500.

So a long journey through the bleak light and occasional sun of the auction world has come to an end for another season.

Me, too! Thank you for your perseverance, not to mention your endurance.