11/18/19 , Blazing blue stupidity still “runnin” wild !
11/18/19
11/19/19
11/20/19
11/21/19
The results from today’s sale of the “left overs” from the Simon Crosby collection at Dreweatt’s auction house Berk. U.K. are available “on the line” so you can continue your education of what’s currently happening in the rug market at this point in time .
To start off with , although this was not a big dollar event it still turned out very well for Dreweatt’s and the Crosby estate with only 2 lots of the total 47 lots not finding new homes . Granted some of the pieces sold a little on the conservative side , however at least 6 pieces had decent upside pops , Note , lot #’s 1 , 8 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 40 .
All said , nothing to get excited about but a nice chance for a shot at some real but still buyable collectors items which is rare these days !
One lot that did catch the “collectors eye” a bit , lot # 40 , most likely a 6 gul Tekke torba frag.with a pre- sale est. of a conservative £ 6-800.00 sold for a well deserved £ 2,800.00 . Cut and shut but with a scarce secondary gul .
As for the 2 pieces i posted in the auction review both sold one quite well , the other in line with the estimate .
Lot # 22 , Salor juval frag. Pre- sale est. £ 4-600.00 . Sold for £ 2,400.00 . Far more than the estimate , as expected .
Lot # 36 , Saryk ensi frag. Pre- sale est. £ 5-800.00 . Sold for £ 850.00 . Slightly over the high est. but did think this piece might do much better .
11/22/19
Next in line , the highly anticipated rug and carpet auction at Grogan & Co. , Boston , Ma . scheduled on Dec 5th and it is up and run-in “on the line” at this very moment for your viewing consumption !
Where to begin on this one . Well as is the norm with a Grogan production everything is for the most part in pretty good condition and Mr G. has , as is his M.O. kept the pre- sale estimates on the realistic side to create a positive attitude leading up to the sale .
The only thing i can find fault in the offering is the lack of a real top shelf collectors item to get the brothers and sisters in the Rug- Mob buzzing. However considering how hard it is to get you hands on something of this nature its certainly understandable .
Concerning the sale inventory itself its a fairly standard selection of better pieces but on the more commercial collectors item and decorative side . Not bad , but not exciting either .
After careful consideration a couple of lots i went back to more than once are featured below.
Lot # 29 , Bakshaish cpt. Pre- sale est. $ 5-7,000.00 . Been around before but i always kinda liked it .
Lot # 98 , East Anatolian divan cover . Pre- sale est. $ 3-5,000.00 . Not usually my taste but i think the main border of this piece is very cool ! But it looks like it could use a good cleaning ?
My final thought on this endeavor is it’s a decent selection of popular pieces i figure with the inviting pre-sale starting points it should turn out just fine for M.G. and staff .
11/23/19
And then there is your Sunday “Kivo” to end the week !!!
One last thing , plenty of action for the Thanksgiving holiday next week .
11/24/29
Dog o the week !
What’s it like to be in it for the money but not in it for the money ?, Sheik Frederich , 2019.
Shitty movie o the week , Again nothing particularly hideous this week .
Movie o the week , The Martian ,2015 . Watched this movie many times. Easily one of the best movie’s Matt Damon ever made !
Song o the week . Phil Campbell , These Old Boots on Old Lions Still Roar , 2019 . Easily the best new song i have heard lately !
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11/11/19 Snowflakes melting in a blaze of Red Fire !
11/11/19
Sotheby’s , London’s , “Rugs and Carpets of a Connoisseur” scheduled on Nov. 27th is now live “on the line” for your viewing education at this very moment ?
After multiple excursions through the auction inventory my first thoughts are this , Ms Coulter and the Sotheby’s rug dept. are ‘swingin’ for the fences with this little adventure into the rug marketing hemisphere .
As far as the selection goes it includes 116 total lots of a little bit of everything from a “single collector” thats trying to attract pretty much everyone interested in oriental rugs of any type !
That said the outcome of this sale is a little in doubt for me . Many of the better lots in the sale have been through the rug auction market in the last few years already and i wonder if todays rug collecting public will accept the recent retreads even if some are at lower levels ?
One other thing worth mentioning is that the sale inventory is loaded will better items , of which some come with fairly aggressive pre- sale estimates , but some may be a little more in the realistic realm. The pre-sale estimates are really kinda all over the place in this offering.
My final notion is this an impressive offering except for the fact that so many of the best pieces are well known to the market already which could easily hurt the sold total .
All in it’s a fairly flashy selection except for the fact it’s lacking fresh to the market items . With that i hope it turns out well for Ms Coulter and staff !
No matter how you look at it a production like this still a lot of work , so “Good Luck” to them!
11/12/19
11/13/19
11/14/19
Henry’s Auktion House , Mutterstadt , Germany is having a rug , carpet and textile sale on Dec. 14th that features 380 lots that includes a little bit of every type of oriental weaving your little heart could “desire”.
Like most sales in Germany these days most of the items in the group are late and in German / very good condition.
As you might also expect with this type of sale after more than a few passes through the sale inventory i did not find much that would get the international Rug- Mob or myself worked up , just a large selection of late pieces aimed straight at the European retail market .
To be unbiased there are a modest number of older items . Unfortunately nothing particularly important , maybe just a cut above the majority of pieces in the sale on the scale of collectability.
In the end this is for the most part a large but rather ordinary , uninteresting rug auction but it’s still worth a quick look if your a rug and textile aficionado !
A few lots i felt were sort of interesting are posted below , all for different reasons .
Lot # 105 , Pao Tao rug. Pre-sale est. € 2,1- 3,200.00 . In a twisted way it reminds of the Previous POTUS in a space helmet !
Lot # 150 , Early fragment , ( Tibetan ) ? Pre-sale est.€ 550-1,200.00 . My favorite lot in the sale .
Lot # 247 , Arabachi ensi . Pre- sale est. € 7-8,500.00 . Nice looking but tricky with all the cochineal pile ?
11/15/19
11/16/19
Happy A.A.C. Day , now on with the sale outcome .
First up these are “Invaluable” unaudited results .
Out of the 31 lots offered only 4 failed to find new homes . A sold percentage of right at 85 %. Granted this was a very small offering but the pieces were for the most part of a higher level .
Not too much in the way of upside action but a couple of pieces did pop up a little , lot numbers , 9 , 22 and unexpectedly from where i sit # 28 which did take off a bit but thats about it as far as excitement goes .
Concerning the two items i featured in the sale review both sold .
Lot # 13 , Sarkisla rug . Pre- sale est. € 20-30,000.00 . Sold for € 25,000.00 , right in the zone .
Lot # 19 , Transylvanian prayer . Pre- sale est. € 20-30,000.00 . Sold for € 30,000.00 . Nice but i thought this piece might do a bit better !
My final thought is this , Mr Langauer and staff should feel pretty good about the outcome of this excursion.
Hat’s off to you !
11/17/19
Your Sunday Kivo !
“Unwanted” , Dog o the week !
Boo Yah ! , Dimi’s born stupid and “git-tin” worse by the minute ! , Sheik Frederich , 2019.
Shitty movie o the week , Caca free week , but don’t worry i am sure that will change soon ?
Movie o the week , Margin Call , 2011.
Song o the week, Crobot , Low Life on Motherbrain , 2019.
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11/3/19 Running smack into gods speed !
11/3/19
Starting the new week we have the next offering from Udo and the gang at A.A.C.
My first thoughts on this sale is it’s a totally different direction for the A.A.C. crew than their previous 7 auctions they have staged this year. This time around the production inventory consist of 31 lots of high end rugs , carpets and textiles from an Austrian private collection scheduled on Nov. 16th at their Vienna gallery .
After a few passes through the sale selection i have to say there is not much in the way of a clunker in the whole group . I am not familiar with a couple of the textile lots but generally speaking the assortment is pretty high quality across the board , in my humble opinion , of course !
Next , Mr Langauer has done a good job in not going overboard with the pre- sale estimates and starting point’s which should spark international Rug- Mob interest in the sale itself.
There you have it . A modest in size offering of for the most part top shelf items at the tail end of the fall 2019 rug auction season to make things interesting and create competition. So get out your check books and let the fun begin.
A couple of lots i went back to more than one time are featured below .
Lot # 13 , Sarkisla rug . Pre- sale starting point € 10,000.00 . Very reasonable for a great example but it’s not where you start its where you finish.
If anyone cares my favorite piece in the group !
Lot # 19 Transylvanian prayer rug . Pre- sale starting point € 10,000.00 . If recent history is any indicator this piece should do very well.
11/4/19
11/5/19
Well todays “Dorotheum” sale is one for the books and i have to say it turned somewhat better for Mr Matschek and the “Dorotheum” rug dept. than i thought it would . Out of the 271 total lots offered up for sale approximately 185 ended up attracting buyers . A sold percentage of right at 69%. I figured that the late age of many of the items offered and the lack of any serious , interesting collectors items would hurt the turnout at the sale but that was not the case , at least this time around . I guess the pursuit of German quality items is still alive and selling well , at least at the Dorotheum !
As for the sale itself , high tech Persian city pieces and Tibetan items sold very well and there were at least 12 nice upside pops to make the auction a little more interesting .
Unfortunately the 2 most absorbing lots included in the sale failed to attract any bidder action.
Lot # 37 , S Group main cpt . Starting bid € 38,000.00 . Unsold , perhaps to much exposure in the international Turkmen market already ?
Lot # 205 , N.W. Persian cpt. . Starting bid € 20,000.00 . Unsold , maybe to optimistic pricing for the Austrian / European rug buying public ?
That said still a pretty good outcome for the Dortheum Auction Gallery ! Kudos to you !
11/6/19
11/7/19
11/8/19
An interesting rug auction has turned up at the Dreweatt’s Auction house in Berk. U.K. on Nov.21st .
The offering consist of 47 lots from the late , great Simon Crosby’s collection.
So most of the items in the sale inventory are earlier pieces but in fragmentary condition . As stated by “Dreweatt’s” many of his most likely better pieces have been donated to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford , U.K. I knew Simon from the first conference on oriental rugs in London , 1976 and he told me his main interest was in rugs , specifically Ersari/ Beshire pieces with the boteh design and there are none in the sale inventory .
That said , all though the majority of the lots in the sale are frags. and not in the best of condition it should create a modest buzz in the “Rug Mob” universe !
One other thing worth noting . The pre-sale estimates are in my opinion very realistic !
Two lots i re-viewed numerous times are posted below .
Lot # 22, Turkmen , Saryk juval frag. Pre- sale est. £ 4-600.00 . Clearly S Group and one of the highlights of the offering .
Lot # 36 , Saryk Ensi frag. Pre- sale est.£ 5-600.00 . Pictured upside down it appears to be an earlier example and should do well.
11/9/19
Next up the “Zaleski Collection” auction scheduled on Nov.30th at Rippon Boswell , Wiesbaden , Germany .
To begin with this sale is made up of 162 lots of rugs , carpets and textiles from most every weaving area and it appears most of this group is in pretty good condition . The down side is Mr Zaleski is said to have a total collection of maybe 7-800 pieces and this is clearly a house cleaning sale to get the bulk down a bit . We have all seen the Hali articles and none of the more important items are included in this sale , as they should not be !
That said after multiple excursions through the sale inventory i see that there are plenty of above average but more commercial grade mid – range collectors items to consider and Mr Maltzahn has done a pretty good job of keeping the pre- sale estimates at least mostly in the ballpark.
I personally did not see a whole lot of items that appealed to my collecting sense personally but a small handful of lots that stuck with me a bit are featured below.
Lot # 3 , Shahsavan bag face . Pre- sale starting point € 1,200.00 . The one lot in the complete sale inventory that appealed to me most !
Lot # 28 , Baluch prayer rug . Pre- sale starting point € 1,800.00 . Unimportant , but a nice face !
Lot # 91 , Sarab mat . Pre-sale € 1,800.00 . Quirky , cool !
On a personal note i crossed paths with Mr Z. a couple of times in the NYC rug market and did not find him to be the most pleasant person i have ever met . But that is neither here “nor” there in this case !
11/10/19
Heading straight into the end of the fall 2019 rug auction season only one more possibly important sale to look forward to.
Mark your calendar’s , Dec. 5th , Grogan’s , Boston , Ma . Not much in the way of details on this one yet by the crafty Mr Grogan !
Don’t forget your Sunday Kivo !
Dog o the week !
Yo , Dimi’s what’s it like to be dumb as a stump and know the woodchuckers commin ? Sheik Frederich , 2019.
Shitty movie o the week , The Mule ,2018 . 3.5 poopsickles out of 5. What was C.E. thinking ? Anybody who’s been around the block knows this is B.S. !
Movie o the week , The Girl in the Spiders Web, 2018.
Song o the week , Dirty Honey , When i’m Gone on Dirty Honey , 2019.
Read More10/5/19 , When the Reaper comes a call- in !
10/5/19
We start the new week with an interesting announcement from Micheal Grogan and Groganco , Boston ,Ma.
They are planing a special Winter, Rug Textile and Carpet auction on Dec. 5th and are now accepting offers to consign so here is you big chance , get to work !
10/6/19
R.I.P , Peter Edward “ Ginger” Baker , legendary drummer for the one and only English rock band Cream , Blind Faith and many others ! I new him a bit from his time in Cali. when he was with “Masters of Reality” and contrary to most opinions he was a pretty cool guy to be around . Make no mistake your legend will live on through your music for all of time!
10/7/19
1/8/19
10/9/19
10/10/19
Well what do you say , what you know ? just this !
Udo and the gang at A.A C. are once more back in the game with what is their 7th sale of the year , titled “Collectors Rugs” scheduled on Nov. 2nd in their Vienna gallery . This sale consist of 231 total lots of all types of rugs , carpets and textiles and features many lots from the noted German/ Persian dealer Siawosch Azadi .
Well after multiple passes through the sale inventory my first impression is it’s over loaded with low end and beginner Turkmen items. I am somewhat framilar with many of the better Azadi pieces and none of them are included in this offering . It appears to just the left over shop inventory , hence the “ no reserve” feature .
As for the none Azadi items there is just not much of anything to get the serious collectors in the “Rug- Mob” excited just mid – range stuff ! How ever if your on a budget or a bargain hunter this maybe another opportunity for you to blow some cash and piece up a mediocre piece at an inexpensive price !
One positive note the pre- sale starting are again on the conservative so there could be an opportunity lurking in the group !
To be fair 2 lots i thought were slightly more interesting are featured below.
Lot # 125 Saryk juval . Pre- sale starting point a very realist € 240.00 . Although damaged it should do much better .
Lot # 172 , Serab Mat . Pre- sale starting point € 400.00 . More decorative than collectable but a very snappy face !
10/11/19
10/12/19
Any given Sunday !
10/13/19
10/14/19
10/15/19
10/16/19
10/17/19
10/18/19
On deck now for your viewing amusement the Dorotheum , Vienna , Austria has their fall major rug , carpet and textile auction scheduled on Nov. 5th live “on the line” now . This time out Mr Matschek has assembled a collection of 271 various rugs , carpets and textiles .
Unfortunately this is for the most part a standard “Dorotheum” European , beginning collector / or retail consumer type sale inventory .
That is not say there is not quite a few better but late items in good condition to consider but if you are a serious rug collector there are only perhaps 2 lots that should possibly attract Rug- Mob attention !
One lot # 37 , the much promoted S Group main carpet . Starting bid € 38,000.00 . Not an overly aggressive starting point .
And lot # 205 N.W. Persian cpt. . Starting bid € 20,000.00 . Not necessarily collectable but in this more modern assortment sort of close to a classic look.
So there you have my opinion , a mostly late but reasonably good looking sale . Just not aimed the serious collectors market .
At any rate Good Luck” to Mr Matschak and staff !
10/19/19
10/20/19
And the there is Sun on Sunday !
10/21/19
10/22/19
Bonham’s , London held their fall “Islamic and Indian Art” sale today .
The sale did not include any rugs or carpets but did feature 7 susani’s and 7 textile lots two of which were worth a mention .
Lot # 53 . Silk Ikat panel . Sold for $ 5,691.00 including comm. To my eye , very beautiful .
Lot # 72 . Ottoman velvet panel . Sold for $ 120,323.00 including comm. I guess the Middle Eastern market is still hungry for these !
10/23/19
Today’s Sotheby’s , London’s , Art’s of the Islamic World is in the books and from an over all sold standpoint it was only modestly successful for them with a large number of unsold . There were more than a few nice upside pops but not enough to make up for the many unsold lots .
As for what did sell in the rug and textile items included in the group , 2 of 5 textiles sold and one of the two carpets .
Lot # Kurdish Garden Carpet frag which i featured in the previous sale review . Pre-Sale est. £ 7-10,000.00 . Sold for £ 56,250.00 . One of the nice upside surprises .
The other lot i featured in the earlier review . Lot # 248 , Mughal tile panel . Pre- sale est. £ 15-25,000.00 failed to sell . I figure the damage must have been a deciding factor !
One textile lot worth reviewing. Lot # 208 , Silk Samite shirt . Pre- sale est. £ 200-300,000.00 sold for £ 243,750.00 . I know nothing about this type of textile but someone out there sure does !
10/24/19
Well todays Christie’s , London’s sale , “Islamic Art” featuring oriental rugs and carpets did not turn out quite so well for Ms Broadhurst and the Christie’s rug dept. Out of 85 rugs and carpets crossing the podium only 45 ended up finding new homes. A sold percentage of right at 53%. Hardly a successful outing for then but not a complete disaster either.
Going over the sold items there were no upside pops to help the outcome , and no weaving areas rugs were weak or strong. The unsold lots were pretty much across the board .
As for the textile lots all 4 pieces offered did end up selling .
Unfortunately the 5 susani’s offered did not fair as well with only lot # 199 Shakhrisabz susani .Pre-sale est.£ 20-30,000.00 , selling for £ 40,000.00 . The only highlight of the rug and textile portion of the sale !!
As for the 2 lots i featured in the sale review one sold ,one did not .
Lot # 223 , Kurdish cpt. Pre- sale est.£ 20- 30,000.00 . Sold for £ 25,000.00 . Right in the zone and my favorite piece in the sale .
Lot # 255 , Anatolian Long Rug . Pre- sale est. £ 4-6,000.00 . Unsold , condition issues i would suspect !
My final thought on this sale is this i thought it would be more successful but many of the “better lots” did not find buyers for what ever reason so with that i say “Kudos”:to Ms Broadhurst and the Christie’s rug and textile dept. for a nice effort and better luck next time !
10/25/19
The sale ay Christie’s London of the well known collector / dealer Oliver Hoare did far better than yesterdays “Islamic Art” sale. This was a general antiques sale that included 5 oriental rugs . Out of the total 120 items offered for sale only 12 did not sell . All 5 oriental rugs did find buyers .
The on lot i reviewed in the previous blog post , lot # 68 , Silk Heraldic rug , possibly Kashan , pre-sale est.£ 25-30,000.00 sold for £ 30,000.00 . An oddity buy in some ways kinda cool !
There was one substantial upside surprise .
Lot # 71 , Tibetan Saddle rug . Pre-sale est. £ 2,5-3,500.00 . Sold for £ 9,375.00. . A surprise in that this piece has ever synthetic color you can imagine and possible color run too . I had know idea this kind of piece bring such a figure , but you learn something every day .
10/26/19
10/27/19
Mr Kearney’s fall rug , carpet and textile extravaganza at Skinner’s , Boston Gallery just wrapped up and from an items sold standpoint it turned out as i figured fairly successful for them. Out of the 370 total lots run over the podium 321 ended up attracting bidder action . A sold percentage of right at 86+% . So far the best sold percentage of the fall auction season up yo this point.
As for the sale it self things sold across the board nothing particularly weak or strong . For a change Mid- range , mediocre Caucasians held there own. Lately in other sales they had been struggling .
The one thing that was a bit of a weak sector was the Sandra Whitman collection of Chinese ,East Turkestan lots which with the somewhat aggressive pre-sale estimates did not sell well. Oh-well live and learn on that one in a choppy rug market !
There were how quite a number of substantial upside pops to bring a bit of excitement to the sale. A few of the prominent are listed below .
LoT # 117 , Konya Yastick
Lot # 128 , Kazak prayer rug
Lot # 133 , Pinwheel Kazak
Lot # 140 , Sileh flatweave carpet
Lot # 157 , N.W. Persian carpet
Lot # 160 , Bakshaish carpet
Lot # 235 , (Shirvan) Akstafa prayer rug
To name a few .
As for the 2 lots i featured in the sale review one sold , one did not .
Lot # 102 , Ningxia square . Pre-sale est. $ 1,2-1,500.00 . Unsold . Prehaps the wear held it back .
Lot # Transylvanian prayer rug . Pre- sale est , $6-7,000.00 . Sold for a well deserved $ 67,650.00 . I guess there was no condition issue on the left side . The high water point of the whole sale .
So there you have it another job well done by Mr Kearney and the Skinner’s auction staff.
Hats off to you !!!
10/28/19
10/29/19
10/30/19
10/31/19
Halloween Hi Jinx !
11/1/19
11/2/19
Underway at today’s A.A.C. sale in their Vienna , Austria gallery featuring items from the “Azadi collection” and so far the “Liveauctioneer’s” posted results are right in line with this years previous 6 A.A.C. auction results.
Up to this point items are selling but at very reasonable figures and there is nothing at all in the way of an interesting upside pop what so ever liven up the production . Stuff selling for stuff prices , bargains galore.
Well the sale just finished up and my first thoughts are These two things .
Low end Turkmens were weak and also the Chinese lots in the group did not preform well at all perhaps the worst section of the sale. Granted they were for the most part very mediocre, commercial examples to begin with but they still under preformed , in my opinion !
As for the rest of the sale itself , out of the 231 total lots offered 176 ended up finding new homes according to “Liveauctioneer’s” unaudited posted results . A sold percentage of right at 76% in line with all the other A,A.C. sales this year .
From my eye this was another middle of the road rug auction with predictable rugs but you have to give “props” to Udo and the gang at A.A.C. for staging yet another fairly successful rug auction with more to come on Nov. 16th , hopefully some higher quality pieces for a change!
As for the 2 lots i featured in the auction review both sold. .
Lot # 125 , Saryk juval frag.Pre- sale starting point € 240.00 Sold for a very reasonable € 500.00 .
Lot # 172 , Serab mat . Pre-sale starting point € 400.00 . Sold for a well deserved € 1,200.00 .
Dog o the week !
Gracia’s , M.F. ?
Dimi – craps can only get away with the stupid uninformed act for so long before it blows up in their face , Cadaver beware !, Sheik Frederich , 2019.
Shitty movie o the week , Buried, 2010. 5 poopsickles out of 5 . Why Ryan Reynolds made this movie is a mystery to me !
Movie o the week , In the Valley of Violence , Beware when you cross paths with vengeance !
Song o the week, The B’zz , Get up Get Angry on Get Up , 2004 .
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