Abstracts should be typewritten, double-spaced, and from 150 to 500 words in length, and should focus on topics in which original research, new theoretical and methodological developments, or new carpet material will be presented. Papers may focus on a variety of categories of enquiry, including but not limited to the following topics: Analysis of Rug Materials, Archival and Documentary Materials, Conservation and Museum Practice, Classical Carpets, Carpets of Anatolia and Ottoman Lands, Carpets of the Trans-caucasus, Carpets of Iran, Carpets of Central Asia.
It is the intention of the Academic Committee to publish the papers of the conference. Accordingly, the committee asks that individuals who do not intend to submit a final version of their papers for publication express their intentions in a covering letter submitted with the abstract.
Abstracts should be submitted to:
Dr. Murray Eiland and Dr. David Stronach
Academic Committee Co-chairmen
6th International Conference on Oriental Carpets
199 Hillcrest Road
Berkeley, CA 94705
Most samplers we have seen over the years have been from the Sultanabad and Bijar areas. Although such pieces predominate in this book, there are surprising examples of Turkoman, Ushak, Central Anatolian, Kirshihir, Qashqa'i, and Bakhtiari weavings among others.
At the Leningrad conference, Mr. Sabahi's talk was on the Beshire Turkoman piece illustrated in color in the book. It was a most thorough and detailed discussion of each of the pattern elements in the vagireh. Although this book is in Italian, based on this talk, the text should be quite good for those who can read Italian; for those who can't, it is still an interesting book for one's library. The color reproduction is better than average, production quality very high, and the price should be about $55. It should be available from specialty book dealers in the U.S.
We learned from Mr. Sabahi that his general book on Oriental carpets, Tappeti d'Oriente, Artee Tradizione, is now out of print. This is surprising because it was published in an edition of 6,000 and sells for approximately $180 and is only in Italian. However, from a production standpoint, it is one of the finest books published in many years. It consists of a hard slipcover case, is a demi-folio size, and all color. It is the ultimate coffee table rug book. He hopes that a reprinted edition with be forthcoming.
The Kashmir Shawl by Frank Ames has recently been reissued by the Antique Collectors' Club. Originally published at $69.50, it is now $79.50. Those who have postponed buying this book or were unable to get it because it had gone out of print will not just be paying more for the same thing; four color and 11 black and white plates have been added. The four color pieces are all French and are the pinnacle of perfection from French looms. A detail of one shawl, "Procession," now graces the back of the dust jacket. The new black and white photos mostly expand examples of design types. But plates 67a - a commemorative jacquard scarf of George Washington and American flags in the fringe - is a wonderful piece of folk art or kitsch, depending on one's point of view. Plate 83a, a shoulder mantle fragment from c. 1700, shows rows of wonderfully drawn marigolds. It is too bad this is not in color for the ground is the softest of yellows.
Overall, the color reproduction is more faithful in the revision than in the original book and the registration is better, but the printers could have lightened up on the ink for the black and white illustrations. Typographical errors and misprints have been cleaned up as well.
Collectors and devotees of Kashmir and jacquard shawls will want to have the revision even if they have the first edition because of the new Illustrations. Those who do not own the book should buy it now because it is an improved version and is the best book in English on the topic. The first edition sold out very quickly for a specialized book such as this. The next time around the ptoduction quality could change significantly.
"Fabrics of Africa: Sub-Saharan Textiles" is an exhibition exploring the role of textiles in conferring and revealtng status in the countries of Africa south of the Sahara Desert (Mali, Cameroon, Zaire, Niger, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria). Clothing, house furnishings including tent sides and blankets and ceremonial costumes will be exhibited from the Museum's collection, the Neutrogena Collection, selected loans from private collectors, the National Museum of African Art, and the National Museum of Natural History. "Fabrics of Africa" will be on view from September 15, 1988 through February 12, 1989.
An internationally known dealer and collector, Harold Keshishian serves on the board of trustees of The Textile Museum which houses the foremost collection of Islamic textiles in the Western Hemisphere. He conducted a month- long seminar on rugs and kilims of the Transcaucasus; his lectures covered topics such as Turkish village rugs and the art of collecting antique Islamic and Chinese textiles.
Sweet Briar alumna Melissa McGee Keshishian is a conservator of rugs and textiles. She was formerly curator of the Wickham-Valentine House in Richmond, Virginia.
Loans from the Keshishian Collection have been included in the exhibitions and publications of such institutions as the Kimbell Art Museum, National Geographic Society, Joslyn Art Museum, The Textile Museum, and the National Gallery of Art in London. The collection is a result of decades of persistent inspection of hundreds of textiles and pruning for examples of the highest quality. Connoisseurship on the part of the private collector is only acquired through years of honing visual and intellectual, and sometime intuitive, abilities to make comparisons of works of art. "Rugs of the Caucasus" is the first in a series of exhibitions planned for the Pannell Center gallery that focus on the art of collecting. A 24-page, unillustrated pamphlet containing a brief statement on Caucasian rugs and descriptions of the 31 rugs was printed for the exhibit.
