RUG NOTES

On exhibit through October is a selection of The Textile Museum's renowned collection of Spanish carpets acquired by founder George Hewitt Myers. "Spain's Carpet Heritage" offers a presentation of carpets woven between the 12th and 17th centuries, including an Alcaraz carpet, a Portuguese Arraiolos, two heraldic carpets, and "Holbein" and "Lotto" pattern rugs. Curator Charles Grant Ellis presents these pieces with comparative Turkish and Persian examples. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County recently announced that the William Randolph Hearst collection of Navajo textiles is to be exhibited for the first time. Titled "Art from the Navajo Loom: The William Randolph Hearst Collection," the exhibit will cover all phase of this textile art from 1800 to 1920. Of the 200 pieces in the collection, approximately 60 will be on display from March 25 through July 31 . The museum is located at 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90007. For general information, call (213) 744-3414. The Frank Ames Collection of rare Kashmir and European jacquard shawls will open at Carpets of the Inner Circle, 44 Jackson Street, San Francisco on April 15 through May 14 Organized by Frank Ames, the exhibition is co-hosted by Roger Cavanna, owner of this well known Jackson Square gallery. About 100 shawls will be available for viewing and sale. Carpets of the Inner Circle is open from 10:30 to 5:30 Monday through Saturday. Telephone (415) 398-2988.

Charles Grant Ellis

Those wishing to enhance their existing knowledge of rug restoration will not want to miss The Textile Museum's "Advanced Rug Restoration Workshop" to be held on March 26 and 27. Led by expert restorer David Zahirpour, the two six-hour classes will be devoted to advanced methods of repiling, reweaving and restoration of foundation holes. Participation is limited to 15 experienced rug restorers who will provide their own tools and well-vacuumed carpets. The registration fee of $85 for TM members or $100 for nonmembers includes box lunch. On February 27, Richard Wright conducted a Textile Museum seminar on Caucasian rugs. Incorporated into the seminar were a review of flatwoven and piled textiles of the Caucasus and discussion of the artistic, economic and ethnic aspects of the rugs, with major concentration on the identification of the predominant types of Caucasian rugs. David Zahirpour (standing second from right) at an opening reception in 1983 for the gallery he operated with the late Mark Treece.

Divine Images and Magic Carpets is a visual record of the 1987 exhibition of some pieces from the impressive and surprising Asian art collection of Dr. and Mrs. William T. Price of Amarillo, Texas. An exhibit was held at the Amarillo Art Center last April and May. The text is brief with a short "Collector's Profile" written by longtime Textile Museum Director, rug collector, and friend, Russell Pickering. Bill and Jimmie Dell Price are well known to anyone who has attended the early rug conferences at The Textile Museum and I.C.O.C. gatherings. Enthusiastic participants and buyers at the gallery openings surrounding those events, the Prices have brought many of their friends and acquaintances into the rug world. The culmination of their collecting passion to date, the exhibition of a portion of their collection was astonishing in its quality, amassed in the last 30 years. Unbeknownst to many, the Prices were also collectors of Asian sculpture. Asian art was Bill's first interest and stems from his time as a M.A.S.H. unit doctor in Korea (He once told us that the experience bore no resemblance to the fiction M.A.S.H.). His first collecting was of prints and sculpture; the "magic carpets" came later, in 1964 when they made a decision to purchase an Oriental rug instead of another Navajo textile. In characteristic fashion, the Prices did not just buy a rug but rather joined rug groups and The Textile Museum to learn about them. In time, Dr. Price was appointed to the Board of Directors of The Textile Museum. Readers interested in rug books will want this paperback catalog as a record of the Price collection. Fortunately, the decision was made to lavish most of the color printing on the Oriental rugs rather than on the sculpture. All of the 40 rug are in color. Of these 17 are Turkish, 15 Caucasian, four Persian, two Turkoman, and two East Turkestan. Each rug has a page unto itself with technical and ethnographical data. There are some well known rugs illustrated here, including one which appeared on the cover of Hali and a Konya Yatak exhibited at Raymond Benardout's gallery during the 1983 London I.C.O.C. Production quality is similar to that of auction catalogs. Divine Images and Magic Carpets should be available from specialized book dealers or may be ordered directly from the Amarillo Art Center, Post Office Box 447, Amarillo, TX 79178. The $20.50 cost includes shipping.

Dr. William and Jimmy Dell Price

The only show of its kind in America, this nationally known event presents the most comprehenisve selection of top quality pre-1935 North, Central and South American Indian artifacts. Featured are textiles, baskets, Pre-Columbian Art, pre-historic pottery, beadwork, jewelry, period photographs, paintings and Northwest Coast and Eskimo art. Items exhibited are the finest and rarest American Indian artifacts that can be seen and generally range in price from $25 to $100,000. A highlight of the 1988 show was an exhibit featuring the collection from the Marin Museum of the American Indian.

In addition to attracting collectors from all over the country, this unique show offers non-collectors a rare opportunity to learn first-hand about Indian culture through conversation with experts and examination of items without the restrictions normally found in a museum.

Victorian Video Productions announces the Spring 1988 release of a new series of instructional arts and crafts video tapes. Included are: "Bobbin Lace" taught by Iowan Doris Southard, "Weave Drafting The Easy Way" taught by Constance LaLena of Colorado, "Applique -- Traditional, Stained Glass and Shadow Techniques" taught by Constance Lagan of New York, and "Advanced Handspinning" with Mabel Ross of Scotland. The running time for these courses ranges between 90 minutes and two hours. Tapes retail for $39 to $49, depending upon the length of the video tape, or they may be rented through Victorian Video Productions new mail-order rental program. Contact VVP at 1304 Scott Street, Petaluma, California 94952, (707) 762-3362. To request review copies, call 1-800-289-9276. Victorian Video Productions will offer another series of video tapes in the fall.

Thanks to the support of the many who have responded since the 1981 founding of The Kurdish Program, a Kurdish Library was established in the Spring of 1986 to provide scarce source materials to researchers and those concerned with the plight of the Kurdish people in Turkey. The "neediest library on the continent" asks your help in acquiring equipment it cannot afford to purchase. If you or your organization is discarding any of the following items, please consider donating them instead: lectern, public address system, video camera, microfiche/reader, cassette deck, Kroy lettering system, wood and glass display cases. Contact The Kurdish Program, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036 or call (212)-764-1133.

GLASNOST

Travel information and assistance can be obtained from Travelgroup, Inc. of 655 North Mill Road, Kennett Square Pennsylvania 19348 or telephone Mrs. Porck at (215) 444-0818. Round-trip airfare to Leningrad on regularly scheduled Finnish Airlines is $950. Departures are scheduled for May 13/14 with a return date of May 22; those continuing on Baku for the Second International Conference on Azerbaijan Carpets, May 22-29, will wish to arrange an extension with Travelgroup.

Hotel accommodations are far more costly than in previous years with typical rates quoted at $200 per day. These prices do include meals. Travelgroup can help travelers with accommodations.

"Already over one million Afghan civilians have been murdered or starved to death and the killing continues today. Afghans remain the world's largest group of refugees, half the world's (total) refugee population.

"Since the Russian invasion in 1979, the country has been turned into a slaughterhouse. The Soviets and their puppets have executed or tortured to death thousands of political prisoners. They attack civilian targets, farmers in their fields, villagers in the bazaar, and medical workers and doctors in their mobile hospitals. The Red Cross is barred; to be injured is to die.

"Soviets pursue, rocket and strafe the caravans of refugee women and children mostly -- fleeing to sanctuary in Pakistan or Iran. They burn crops, destroy granaries, and flocks and herds to induce famine. They smash the irrigation systems, poison the water, and spread poisons on the land and turn it into a permanent desert. Soviet ground forces barge into the villages to rape, to loot, to burn and to murder most horribly, leaving the mutilated dead as a warning and an omen to survivors.

"The Human Rights in Afghanistan Committee is working to support and fund medical and surgical units operating inside USSR-occupied Afghanistan. We work to document and report on massive human rights violations. We need your help to send medical supplies and doctors inside Afghanistan, to fund mobile surgical units and to bring wounded Afghan war victims to the United States for treatment."

Readers wishing to support the Human Rights in Afghanistan Committee's aims of humanitarian and medical aid to Afghanistan are urged to send $20 membership fee, $50 donation, or any other financial contribution to:

Human Rights in Afghanistan
Box 831
Park Forest, IL 60466
[Ed. Note: We do not know if this is an operative address as of 12/18/97]

Stepping down after three years as president of the Society was Peter F. Stone. The Nominating and Election Committee nominated John Knudsen, David Schwartz and Betty Caracci as directors, serving as the Society's president, vice president, and secretary, respectively. March 18 is the date of the next meeting when it is hoped the program will be Persian flatweaves, Ali Afshar.

The Oriental Rug Society of New South Wales met for its annual general meeting at which all positions falling vacant are filled. After the general meeting, Bini Malcolm was to be the featured speaker, guiding members "on a stroll through Persian Gardens and Garden Carpets." On Sunday, March 27, the society will hold its Persian New Year (Now Ruz) picnic at the Botanical Gardens. "We hope to compress the traditional two weeks of Now Ruz celebrations into one relaxed day for members and families -- feasting beside running water (as Persian custom demands) and enjoying the comfort of Persian rugs beneath the boughs, while the samovar boils and members -- if so inspired -- recite quatrains from Omar Khayyam," says the society newsletter.

Participants at the Armenian Rug Symposium held in Montreal in 1984

Armenian Rugs Society President, Jim Keshishian reminds readers of the International Symposium on Armenian Rugs, hosted by Hagop Avakian of Geneva Switzerland, to be held in Geneva March 31 through April 3. The President Hotel is the location of the meeting and offered is a special package rate, including room, continental breakfast, and buffet lunch, for SF150 per person per night in a twin-bedded room (a supplement of SF3O per person per night in a single-bedded room). The program will feature world reknowned scholars, with Ulrich Schürmann topping the list. The registration fee is a modest $120. For more information, contact Jim Keshishian at (301) 654-4044 or write or call Hagop Avakian (telephone 011-41-22-316177 bearing. in mind the six or so hour time difference). Noted with sincere sympathies were the deaths of Buck Boxdorfer, husband of ARS secretary, Loretta Gulian Boxdorfer, and Angele Apamian Magarian, mother of Jeannette John.

After the Princeton Rug Society completed its 15th season it seemed appropriate to review its activities in the belief that such a review would be both suggestive and provocative to other rug groups. The Princeton Society enjoys the advantage of location in a community small enough so that meetings may be held in the homes of members. It normally meets Friday evenings at 8:00 or Saturdays at 2:45. Its location midway between New York City and Philadelphia puts it within easy travel distance of rug collectors and many scholars, collectors, and dealers Oriental rugs. The organization has been informal, with no titled officers until 1987, although in earlier years individuals were responsible for programs, mailings, accounts, and hospitality. Membership has hovered around 70 and dues were gradually increased from $2 per person annually to $10. The Society has believed that speakers with rug expertise should receive an adequate honorarium; it now stands at $150. The Society is not offended if the speaker declines to accept the honorarium. They have had no difficulty in obtaining knowledgeable speakers. Exchanging program material with several other rug societies has produced valuable leads on speakers.

Ustad Don Wilber of the Princeton Rug Society and George Bailey, Oriental rug specialist at Christie's.

The Society has mounted three exhibitions, a strenuous undertaking that it heartily recommends. These shows were held at The Historical Society of Princeton, Princeton University and the gallery of the Squibb International Headquarters; these places are cited as the kind of places that are receptive to rugs. Society members believe that the show at Squibb was the first-ever rug show in a corporate headquarters and it is suggested that other societies might pursue this example.

Ginger Sawyer Rosa has announced her resignation as director of public relations for Robert W. Skinner, Inc., the Bolton, Massachusetts, auctioneers and appraisers. Ms. Rosa will continue to serve Skinner's as a public relations consultant. Joining Sarah Hamill in the public relations department is Ms. Rosa's successor, Alicia Barry Gordon, an Ithica College alumna who brings to the position a strong background and varied experience in the field of communications. A rug auction at Skinner's