In this category I list recently acquired pieces of all groups and sizes for a duration of maximum 4 months after arrival, thereafter they appear in their respective sections. More images of any lot available on request. Updated 12/6/2018
An early example of the popular Bakthiari design known locally as "keshti" (lit. checkered) and in the rug trade as garden design. The charming, spontaneous drawing reflects the weaver's imagination, picking different garden motifs for each square, all haphazardly arranged. The natural colours have softened beautifully over the years, the rug now alive with decorative character and atmosphere.
Finely knotted, the rug has very slight but even, overall wear, free of repairs and with its ends and sides intact. The three outer guards are drawn in the sequence and colour of the Persian/Iranian flag, a rare feature I have not come across before.
€3800
A beautiful antique carpet featuring the original Tekke gul design later known as "Bokhara" after the town where the nomads traded their weavings. Original examples made before the Russian Revolution are now rare and much sought after as decorative furnishing carpets as well as collector's items.
This carpet features all the qualities of early, non commercial pieces - exceptional silky wool pile knotted at around 170/sq inch, natural dyes and virtually repair free. The original end kilims have been lost, otherwise the carpet is in exceptionally good condition. A rare and beautiful piece that blends in equally well in classical and contemporary settings. This photograph does not do it justice and better images will be posted shortly.
€6700
A rock solid DOBAG example with thick, lustrous pile and dense knotting. The offset rows of traditional "oklu" motifs is charmingly lifted by heart and butterfly motifs, signed E.Y. and dated 2007. In perfect condition having been well looked after for 10 years by its first caretaker, now lifted to perfection after a professional wash adding glow and patina to the wonderful quality wool.
€2700
An excellent quality DOBAG runner from the number one weaving village in the DOBAG project at its peak. Its founder Dr Harald Bohmer passed away earlier this year and he left an important legacy behind, the DOBAG project now recognised world wide as an important piece of carpet history. This charming runner is dated and signed, featuring Dr Bohmer's favourite DOBAG colour combination. A collector's piece today, set to last for several generations of hard use on the floor.
€1800
Few Persian tribes rivalled the powerful Quashq'ai in terms of fineness of weave, choice and quality of colours and also refinement of design. This piece is highly characteristic of their late 19th C work, with a knot count of almost 160/sq inch which gives it a wonderful, supple handle. The range of colours is astonishing for such a small weaving but this type of bag was often woven as an important part of dowry, aiming for the highest quality.
In very good condition with only a tiny amount of repiling, mainly the one ivory line at the lower end. A beautiful thing at a bargain price in today's international rug market.
€750
This is one half of what once was a large double bag (khorjin), basically intended for storage of blankets and utensils but more often woven with exceptional care as part of dowry or important gifts. Knotted at around 135 knots pr square inch, with inlaid details in rare colours like yellow and green, the weaver clearly set out to create something special. Its perfect condition confirms that it was never used for travel or storage, rather kept as an important piece of dowry. For the past decades it has been displayed as a work of art on the wall.
For similar examples, see J. Boucher, Baluchi Woven Treasures, Plates 34 & 35. Please note the two grey circle forms are mere light reflections during photography.
€1900
This example is one of the best DOBAG prayer rugs we sold during our 30 years in the Blackrock gallery. Having enjoyed love and care by its previous owner, the rug has come back to us in perfect condition, further enhanced by a proper cleaning. No other newly made Oriental rugs respond better than DOBAGs to full wash treatment, yielding a rich glow and sheen you only find in the best antique village rugs. DOBAG is now all but gone and hence the best of the early, inspired examples if kept in good condition are becoming desirable among collectors world wide. The weaver has signed the rug U.Y. and also dated it 2002.
€SOLD
This beautiful, almost 20 year old DOBAG features a design known as "turnali" (with cranes) after the diagonal chevrons resembling birds in flight. The Metropolitan Museum in New York has an 18th C version of this design woven in nearby Canakale and it can also be found in a 15th C rug painting by Ghirlandaio in the Uffizi, Florence.
In perfect condition throughout showing no wear or loss at ends or sides, the rug has just undergone professional cleaning, bringing a wonderful sheen to the wool and lifting the natural colours to another dimension.
€SOLD
A very beautiful and typical example of Caucasian village rugs woven in the late 19th C. At this time most women all over the Caucasus wove rugs for barter, resale and not least for family occasions. The rugs were woven "free style", the patterns created spontaneously from the weavers' memory, thus creating a unique product every time - the total opposite to the lifeless, sterile factory woven commercial rugs made after the Revolution.
Another reason why antique Caucasian pieces are arguably the most collectible worldwide are the wonderful, all natural colours employed in early examples - in stark contrast to the garish, fugitive synthetic colours used almost everywhere in the region post 1920.
This wonderful rug was sourced in Armenia where it was displayed on a wall for most of its life, hence it is in near perfect condition throughout with original sides and ends intact, almost full pile and only small spots of the usual corrosive black wool. A rare and highly collectible rug in today's market..
€6900
A great example of the famous DOBAG rugs, woven at a time when the project was still going strong. Today only a very small number of rugs are woven and only a small number of families are still involved. This beautiful DOBAG illustrates how great they once were - great, open design, good proportions and a great eye for colour harmony on part of the weaver who has signed and dated it 2001. Having been in daily use for 16 years and lovingly looked after, the rug has been professionally hand washed, now glowing like a jewel with beginnings of the patina seen in great rugs from centuries past. In perfect, original condition.
€SOLD
A nice, funky Baluch rug with a dramatic main border and lovely "abrash" of sky blue across the field. The rug has been kept on a wall by previous owners and hence it remains in good condition - only very slight, even wear, no field repairs bar one minute reweave to lower left corner, original side cords and no loss at short ends other than the original kilim.
€1650
