News-Antique.com - Oct 25,2012 - Boston, MA – October 25, 2012 – Skinner, Inc. will offer almost 300 lots of fine Oriental rugs and carpets – including 50 room-sized carpets – at auction in Boston on Saturday, November 10th. The diverse collection includes Persian, Anatolian, Turkish, Turkeman, Caucasian and Indian rugs and carpets.
Caucasian Rugs
The pièce de résistance of the November auction is an early 19th century Star Kazak rug (lot 117, estimated between $20,000 and $30,000). This Star Kazak is an extremely rare rug with great color, likely one of less than 100 in the world. In 1988, Skinner sold a Type A Star Kazak that at the time was one of only four known extant and hammered at $140,000. The design of the current rug is similar to the record-setting Type A, but with a different border.
A very unusual Armenian Marasali pictorial rug (lot 119, $5,000 to $7,000) features two distinct images, one of a woman and child and another of an older couple that may be royalty. Armenian rug connoisseurs haven’t seen anything like it before.
A beautiful Kazak rug with great color and in good condition from the last quarter of the 19th century (lot 129, $20,000 to $25,000) will be available. Another interesting small piece represented is a Qashqai sampler (lot 101, $3,000 to $4,000) from the second half of the 19th century. Rug makers often used samplers like these to show prospective buyers the various components available to them such as borders, medallions, and accessory motifs.
Anatolian Rugs
The oldest piece represented in the sale is a “Transylvanian” rug (lot 107, $5,000 to $7,000) made in 17th century Anatolia. At one time, it was thought that these rugs were made in the Transylvanian region of Romania, but now experts agree that they were made in Turkey, which at the time was known as Anatolia.
An Ayranci long rug fragment with great color highlights the selection of Anatolian rugs. Dating from the 18th to early 19th century, this fragment has been professionally mounted on fabric (lot 108, $10,000 to $12,000). A Ladik prayer rug dating back to the late 18th century/early 19th century (lot 109, $5,000 to $7,000) is also offered among a number of 19th century Anatolian rugs.
Turkeman Weavings
From West Turkestan comes a rare mid-19th century Salor Torba featuring beautiful silk highlights (lot 75, $10,000 to $12,000). The Salor were a nomadic people who lived in yurts in the desert, where wood was scarce. Rather than building shelves and cabinets to hold personal belongings, these nomads wove bags of various shapes and sizes to hang from the inside walls of the yurt. This example is in a smaller size likely meant to hold personal items. In 1850, the Tekke tribe wiped out the Salor, meaning that true Salor pieces such as this example can only come from before 1850. Many other Turkeman rugs and carpets are featured in the sale.
Persian Rugs
Persian rug highlights include a highly unusual Bahkshaish rug depicting dragons (lot 133,
