10/22/18
10/23/18
After a brief delay the English version of the upcoming “Rippon Boswell” fall major rug auction scheduled on Nov. 17th is up “on the line” for you to peruse and digest . This time out Mr Maltzahn has assembled a fairly eclectic selection of 273 lots with items from almost all of the popular weaving areas being well represented. The group is a little heavy on Turkish items with the Bohmer coll. group and another large selection of Turkish pieces from another collection. Turkmen , Caucasian , textiles and for a change Baluch items are also out in full force but the Chinese / East Turkestan group seems to be a little on the weak side considering the strong selection in some of the other recent earlier sales .
So after multiple passes through the sale inventory i am left feeling this is a good but not necessarily great assortment . As usual there is a smattering of high end pieces ( susani’s and South Persian) , plenty of better mid- range and of course some filler items but no real top shelf , barn burner item to light up the the Rug- Mob network !
Still an admirable job done by the R.B.rug dept. at a time when great pieces are hard to come by . It should turnout pretty well for them ,
Good Luck!
With that said a couple of lots that caught my eye are posted below .
Lot # 49 , Ersari ensi . Pre- sale estimate € 2-400.00 . My favorite piece in the sale . It should do well .
Lot # 226 Karachov Kazak . pre-sale estimate € 13-1,800.00 . A very good example , again in poor condition but listed accordingly .
10/24/18
Next up , Sotheby’s , London just concluded their “Arts of the Islamic World” today and as far as i can see it turned out to be a fairly successful venture for them with more than a handful of lots breaching the £ 100,000.00 level and one really taking off .
Lot # 134 , Blue and White “Iznik” Charger , circa 1480 . Pre- sale estimate £3-500,000.00 . Sold for a magnificent £ 5,359,950.00.
The lot i featured in the 10 / 8 post lot # 133 , “Ottoman” velvet “Cintamani” pattern fragment pre-sale est. £ 20-30,000.00. sold for an impressive £ 68,750.00 . I thought the condition might hold this piece back a bit , but i guess not .
All in , a nice production posted by the Sotheby’s Islamic Dept. !
10/25/18
Christie’s , London’s Arts of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including carpets just wrapped up and from a rug and carpet standpoint it turned out to be reasonably prosperous for them .
Concerning the overall sale , they also had a few lots pop over £ 100,000.00 mark but not quite up to the turn of events at yesterdays sale at Sotheby’s .
First let me say the textile selection was very weak with only approximately 10 out of 29 offered selling . None of the susani’s were particularly interesting but they all sold .
As for the rug and carpet selection if faired much better , however one thing worth noting .
None of the 3 “Lotto” carpets found new homes. Around the track once to often , perhaps ?
Out of the 104 total lots of rugs and carpets offered approximately 66 traded hands for a sold percentage of right at 63% .
Not great , but not bad either .
As you would expect the Konig coll. items had a pretty good showing with only perhaps 2 not selling .
Nothing else in the rest of sale inventory seemed strong and there were no notable upside pops . Seems to me maybe the Caucasian items in the group were a little on the weak side but then they were also a little of the ordinary variety !
That said we have to give props to Ms Broadhurst and staff for a passable job at the tail end of the fall season !
The lots i featured in the previous review all sold but with mixed results.
Lot # 217 , Iznik “Cintamani” pattern tile . Pre- sale est. £ 30-50,000.00 . Sold for an outstanding and well deserved , £ 218,750.00 , As i stated in my previous post my favorite piece in the whole sale !
Lot # 230 , Ottoman embroidered panel . Pre- sale est. £ 10-15,000.00 . Sold for slightly over the high estimate at £ 21,250.00 . A decent pop but nothing to get excited about .
Lot # 286 , Khotan frag. Pre- sale est. £ 3-5,000.00 . Sold for £ 3,500.00 .
Lot # 324 , Silk Farahan prayer rug . Pre-sale est. £ 4-6,000.00 . Sold for £ 5,250.00 . In the zone no surprise here !
10/26/18
And Friday !
10/27/18
10/28/18
Parting shot to end the week !
Henry’s .de , Mutterstadt, Germany has another rug auction scheduled on Dec. 8th . No details yet but their last sale did far better than i expected .
Riley Rules !
Dog o the week ,
Out of the darkness and into the “write” the world today will survive and prosper ! , Sheik Frederich , 2018.
Shitty movie o the week , Murder on the Orient Expresss , 2017 . 3.5 poopsickles out of 5 . Not really bad but considering the cast a something of a let down that drags a bit in comparison to the original version .
Movie o the week ,
Song o the week , Burning Witches , Executed on Hexenhammer , 2018.
