3/25/19
Calm sea’s for the moment !
3/26/19
“The Dorotheum” , Vienna, Austria is back in the game with a special sale scheduled on April 9th titled “ The Turkmen” , Schleswig-Holstein , Ingo Bauer coll.
For starters this is a bit of a step forward for the “Dorotheum” considering the type of items they usually have featured in their last few sales .
The collection consist of 138 lots of for the most part second half of the 19th century ordinary Turkmen items in “European market” condition. There are also a small number of Baluch and other tribal pieces none of which are of any great consequence .
After multiple passes through the collection inventory my feeling is this . Although this is a substantial group of items there is not even one clear cut barnburner to get the serious Turkmen collectors of the world excited. Yes , there are plenty of “nice” good condition intermediate pieces and a hand full of slightly earlier pieces , but nothing truly early and important which leads me to wonder is this whole collection or did they hold back this best pieces ?
One other thing .
For the most part the pre- sale estimates and starting points are realistic except for a few of the main carpets ( lot #’s 86 , 98 and 116 ) which seem very optimistic in a market where main carpets have been soft for quite awhile . Just an observation on my part !
That said i did notice a couple of lots i thought were mildly interesting and they are posted below.
Lot # 78 , Igdyr ? tentband fragment . pre- sale estimate € 6-700. Starting bid € 450.00 . Very reasonable !
Lot # 90 , Tekke torba . Pre- sale estimate , € 3,6- 4,000.00 . Starting bid € 3,000.00 . Ordinary but a better than average example .
Lot # 133 , cataloged as Tekke Chuval ? . Pre-sale estimate € 1,6- 2,000.00 . Starting bid € 1,400.00 . Not sure about the attribution on this one but with the unusual color scheme it could be very good , or not ! My favorite piece in the group !
All said and done it still took plenty of time and “shekel’s” to put this collection together so “good luck” to the owner / collector and the “Dorotheum” rug dept. !
Next up the agony of the A.A.C. Sale on March 30th !
3/27/19
3/28/19
3/29/19
Three cheers for political correctness !
3/30/19
The A.A.C. , Fine Antique Oriental Rugs , XIV” sale is under way now and up to this point ( lot # 150 ) Udo and gang are pitching a perfect game with no unsold lots , so far. Granted many of the prices fetched on the items are very reasonable if not give away but as i always say , sold is till sold and if this the direction A.A.C. is going it looks like the strategy is working .
Fini !
So we end the agony with only one passed lot according to the “Liveauctioneer’s” posted results which keeps Udo’s string of successful but uninteresting March, 2019 auctions alive and definitely kick- in , at 2 !
Worth noting , no real up side pops but with this commercial selection this was to be expected !
One more thing , i question lot # 1 ? Just a thought !
All in , this was a very positive endevor by Mr Langauer and staff and they are to be commended for moving a large amount of merchandise in a spotty rug market .
Hat’s off to you !!!
No how about a sale with a handful of more upscale important items to draw in the international collectors ?
3/31/19
And then there was Margarita !
Dog o the week , Things get weird-er ?
The cool wind of reality is blowing “RIGHT” in your face , you best get on board or get “LEFT” behind ! , Sheik Frederich , 2019.
Shitty movie o the week , No shit this week , hallelujah !
Movie o the week , Red Sparrow , 2018.
Song o the week , Freedom , Richie Havens , live version on the “Woodstock” movie soundtrack , 1969 , remastered 2009 .
