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 .
