OAKLAND, Calif. -
Jan David Winitz, founder and president of Claremont Rug Company, today
announced one of the most significant single acquisitions of art-level
antique rugs from a private source in the past decade.
The collection will be available, starting Saturday, February 23 at the
Claremont Rug Company showroom in Oakland.
The international investor and author said, “It
feels like striking the Mother Lode. Many of the rugs are unique from
any others that I have seen in my more than 30 years of investing. It is
rare that a collection of this caliber becomes available and we were
honored that it was offered to us.”
The collection was acquired from a Wall Street financier who wishes to
remain anonymous. His primary residence was in the Hudson River Valley
in New York.
“The range of carpets is astounding and was
put together over a 50-year period,” Winitz
said. “It contains extraordinary examples of
all of the most important Near Eastern weaving styles from throughout
the 19th century as well as some first-rate
circa 1900 pieces.”
Included in the more than 200 pieces is a 15x21 Tabriz masterwork from
the workshops of renowned Hadji Jallili. “It
is one of the finest examples from this central carpet designer that we
have ever seen, and is in nearly perfect condition,”
Winitz said. “We believe that it took a team
of about 15 weavers upward of a decade to complete. It represents a
monumental artistic and technical accomplishment.”
Another piece of a magnitude that has not appeared on the international
market in this generation is a 200-year Persian Bakshaish, measuring
12x19, with an early archetypal rendition of the important “Dragon
and Phoenix” motif.
Included in the collection are rare tribal rugs as well as village and
classical carpets, including a “superbly
preserved,” circa 1800 Karabagh from the
Caucasian region with a one-in-the-world design and color palette. This
8x11 piece is also unusually large size for this style.
A wide selection of the pieces will be displayed throughout Claremont’s
three-showroom gallery. There will also be a special section with a
sampling of the rugs available on Claremont’s
website, (www.claremontrug.com).
A world-recognized connoisseur and author, Winitz recently delivered two
globally significant, invitation-only lectures about the rugs from the
Caucasus Mountain region.
“We have a truly singular position in the
antique rug market,” Winitz said. “When
divesting a life-long collection, connoisseurs are as interested in
ensuring that the rugs are made available to other aficionados who will
truly appreciate them as they are in the economic aspects of selling.
For instance, in this case, knowing that we present rugs as works of art
to a clientele of connoisseurs and lovers of beauty, the collector came
to us exclusively.
Now in his 80’s, the anonymous seller said, “the
rugs in my collection are my dear old friends…my
first desire is for them to go to people who will appreciate them and
benefit from them as much as I have.
“My late wife and I literally put them in
every nook and cranny of my houses—on the
walls, draped over banisters, on table tops, in pantries and dressing
rooms,” he said. “We
even draped several over furniture like in the old Dutch paintings.”
Winitz, who maintains a substantial private collection of his own, said “if
we didn’t maintain a strict policy of
offering to our clients all the rugs that we acquire through the
corporation, I would definitely keep a number of them for myself.”
All of the rugs in the collection will be available for viewing and
purchase, starting at 10 a.m. on the 23rd at the Claremont Rug Company,
6087 Claremont Avenue in Oakland. Additional information may be obtained
at 1-800-441-1332 or on the gallery’s website
(www.claremontrug.com).
For Claremont Rug Company
Gary Tobin, 415-256-9490
gptobin2003@yahoo.com
