3/27/17
Good weather but commerce is lacking for the moment !
3/28/17
Hear Ye , Hear Ye !
Hot “on the line” now for your careful consideration Skinner’s major spring rug and textile auction scheduled on April 25th in Boston, Ma. is good to go. What L.K. and the Skinner’s rug dept. have in store for you this time out is approx. 386 lots of for the most part mid to low end rugs , carpets and textiles .
Oh yes , as it’s been since L.K. took over a substantial number of Persian shawls (30) and the like too.
So after a few passes through the sale inventory this my personal opinion.
First impressions are the strength of the sale is in the room size carpets and there are far more entry level Turkmen and Baluch pieces than in the past few Skinner’s sales . There is also nothing in the group that could be considered a serious collectors item from any of the represented weaving areas . That said it doesn’t mean there isn’t a reasonable selection of interesting items in the sale inventory unfortunately just a lack of high end pieces . One thing worth noting Mr Kearney has kept the pre- sale estimates on sale on the conservative side so there just may be deals to be had , if luck is on your side.
In the end my humble opinion is this is not a sale featuring a large number of top shelf items but there is however a good cross section of items that could appeal to the budget minded collector or beginning enthusiasts looking to see a large and varied group of pieces in one location . So on that note and in a difficult rug environment L.K. and the Skinner’s rug dept. have assembled a decent and somewhat interesting auction inventory , now we wait to see how it works out for them.
Two lots that did catch my attention for different reasons are posted below
Lot # 22 , Two Anatolian Yasticks . Pre- sale est. $ 6-800.00 . Rough condition but decent age .
Lot # 90 . Saryk juval . Pre- sale set. $ 2-300.00 . Most likely much better in person than in the illustrations. A sleeper ?
Parting shot .
Because of the varied level of items in this sale if your in the Boston area it my behoove you to view the lots in person because there may certainly be other miscataloged items in this auction !
3/29/17
Bonham’s, London has an ” Islamic and Indian Art ” auction scheduled on April 25th. It does not include and rugs or carpets but it does feature 10 various Islamic textiles and 3 mediocre Susani’s . Not much really but if it’s your area of interest it just may be worth your time to take a quick look.
The results from today’s “Living with Art” sale at Christie’s , NYC are up ” on the line” now and it was a decent turn of events for them from an overall perspective. As far as rugs go it was pretty much a none event , however all 3 rugs included in the sale and the tapestry did sell. As for the one textile lot I featured in a previous post it also managed to find new home .
Lot # 415A , Kaitag embroidery . Pre- sale set. $ 5-8,000.00 , sold for $ 4,000.00 . Well under it’s low estimate . Weak Kaitag market ,condition issues or someone just got a good deal ,who knows ?
3/30/17
So Udo and the gang at Austria Auction Co. finally got their act together and the upcoming sale inventory for the auction scheduled on April 22nd in Vienna , Austria is live now for you viewing pleasure.
Where to begin .
After a few passes through the items in the offering I came away a little underwhelmed. Granted illustrations are what they are and some of these things might be much better inperson but my opinion is my opinion from this vantage point. To start with , the group includes a fair amount of “filler items” , for what ever reason . That’s not to say it’s not an extensive selection with plenty of pretty good pieces for you to consider . I just could not find a single clear cut winner in the whole group , collectible or decorative . I am not trying to be difficult but I did expect or hoped for a real barn burner from any weaving area to create a buzz around what should be one of the high water marks of the 2017 spring auction season . Unfortunately not , but it’s still well worth your time to peruse the 330 total lots in the current sale inventory!
Keep in mind I do respect the amount of time and work it takes Udo and crew to assemble a sale of this size and hope it’s a positive outcome for them !
All that being said I did notice one piece that i thought had very good eye appeal.
Lot # 227 , Vernah . Pre- sale est. € 7- 9,000.00 . Unimportant , but a lotta bang for the buck !
3/31/17
Silent Saturday.
Margarita ?
4/1/17
You know what day this is , Libs !
3/2/17
Out of town visitor & commerce.
Hells bells are ringing and no one is even payin attention, wake up ! , Sheik Frederich, 2017.
Movie o the week , Born to be Blue , 2016 .
Song o the week, Iced Earth , Among the Living Dead on Plagues of Babylon ,2014 .
