Since this series is intended principally for collectors, both neophytes and veterans,  and since these are mainly interested in old and/or antique Oriental rugs, it is deemed appropriate to include a short exposition on the recent history of this trade.
It is impossible for anyone who reads or listens to the contemporary media not to be aware  of the constantly accelerating interest and consequent value of antiques.  The acquisition of these items seems to have become a paramount mania of our time!  Auction galleries, specializing in antiques, are regularly filled to over-flowing with bidders who appear to have unlimited resources.  We are often regaled by announcements that this or that specimen has achieved a record high price within its category.  There is no question that antiques have become big business!!!  It is equally certain that many concerned individuals, observing this phenomenon, are wondering about how it all happened!

This development originated like Rock 'n Roll, McDonald's Hamburgers, Col. Sander's Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc. in the United States!!  It all began with the super-wealthy in the Great Depression when their personal income taxes were greatly increased.  The tax laws allowed any contribution to a non-profit organization, functioning in the public welfare, to be deducted from gross income.  Suddenly, there was an outcropping of private foundations, restorations, libraries and museums financed by this ilk who wished to be regarded as a Maecenas devoted to public service!  These institutions were set up and so organized as to take full advantage of the situation and relieve their patrons of as much of the tax burden as possible..  This was shifted, of course, onto the middle class who were not in a position to use these devices!!!

I remember visiting Tina Baumstone, a small dealer who specialized in the highest quality of early American furniture.  This took place, during this era, when there was very little interest for antiques and consequently prices were very low.  Very excitedly, she showed me a rare Chippendale sewing table which she had bought for $15,000!!!  Since, at a recent auction I had seen a labeled  Edgerton sewing table (early 19th century) go for $400, I was shocked and told her that she must have been insane to pay such a price!!  She replied that she had acquired the table at this price on the direct and special instruction from a super-rich family, who had founded a museum, devoted to early American artifacts, and who had commissioned her to buy all rare items suitable for the collection, regardless of price!!!  In as much as this activity was not confined to antiques of any particular category, the impact of this new demand began to have an influence on the trade, particularly in the auction galleries.  It must be admitted that the involved dealers viewed this development with definite approval!!!
A parallel evolution was the abandonment of the old capitalistic "Free Market" economy in favor of the theories of an English economist, John Maynard Keynes, who advocated government intervention in the economic process to eliminate the inevitable deflation which followed each period of inflation under the old system.  The latter was held responsible for the great worldwide depression and must be discarded.  The followers of Keynes, generally to the left in the political spectrum, maintained that only with this new system could the Gross National Product be expanded and full employment be achieved.  The end of World War II, witnessed two further developments.  The first was the ever-increasing entrance of women into the job market and the second was the growth of the labor unions whose wealth and political clout rivaled that of the great capitalists!  The former were able to get new contracts with large wage increases and working conditions which reduced productivity.  The last was rectified, to some extent, by the constant growth of technology.  The combination of the new contracts and reduced productivity insured a continual inflation!!!  The cost of living grew at an alarming rate which caused the unions to demand higher wages, which, in turn, was passed on to the consumer by the entrepreneurs with an increase in profits, causing an inflationary spiral!!!

The net result was of this development was the creation of an entire generation dedicated to an inflationary lifestyle who did NOT believe in saving because you saved "hard" dollars and got back "soft" dollars!  The popular idea was "Buy now, prices are sure to rise."  Buy, even if you have to borrow, because your union surely will get you an increase and you will be able to repay the loan easily.  Get rid of value-losing cash.  Invest it in anything that promises a good return  and be a good hedge against inflation. It was a fertile field for the con artist.  An ex-social worker, working out of Switzerland, pyramided an investment scheme which collapsed, defrauding thousands and left him very well off indeed!!!  The stock  market, mutual funds, real estate and the antiques market boomed.  The inflation bred an enormous class of nouveau riche with a great deal of money and very little culture!  The Kennedy's interest in art and antiques sparked the jet set.  These items were "in" and must be acquired at all cost, not only as investments but also as status symbols.  Modern art became the rage and countless daubers painted pictures, like Andy Wharhol's "Tomato Can", sold these at high prices to the jet set and laughed all the way to the bank!!!

It is an economic axiom that commodities will flow to where the greatest demand exists!  As the demand for antiques rose in the United States, these traveled from Europe to America, causing a dearth there!  This in combination ,with the economic resurgence in Europe under the Marshall plan, caused the mania to spread overseas with an international increase in prices!!  A competition was established which further escalated prices!!!

Antiques have one great investment advantage because these are unique and NOT in current production!  If you desire to buy a vacuum cleaner, and have decided on the make and model, you can shop for it in different sources and rest assured that wherever you may buy it, the item will be exactly similar to others in this category!  Also, these cleaners are readily available.  On the other hand, if you find an antique which enthralls you, it is quite certain that an exact duplicate is hardly to be found!  A genuine antique never came off a production line!!!

The avalanche of money, the scarcity and high prices of genuine antiques spurred the revival of two ancient crafts.  The first was the art of "Antique Faking".  There were skilled artisans who realized the enormous frustration of collectors who were unable to acquire these treasures and manufactured imitations which they sold at high prices to the unwary.  This was done solely to relieve the frustration and the resulting psychological damage!!!  The second was the creation of a specialized branch of the burglary profession which devoted itself exclusively to fine antiques which were "hot" on the current market.  These were usually sold to collectors and dealers who did NOT include worrying about the source of a desired item!!!
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines "promotion" as "the furthering of the acceptance and sale of merchandise through advertising and publicity."  The art of promotion, as any public-relations or advertising man will tell you is "The Art of Business Itself"!  The actual worth of an object is practically nothing, its real value consists in its acceptance and sales which is produced by professional promotion!!  Skillful promotion has created successful careers for talentless folk-singers, commercially inspired daubers and its crowning achievement, an incompetent President of the United States!  It gives additional support to the psychological maxim, "There is no reality; there is only PERCEIVED reality!"  It is not what an object is; it is what the cognoscenti say it is.  In our world, it is "The Name of the Game"!!!

Promotions are relatively few in periods of economic depression when cash is the most valued commodity and people try to spend as little as possible.  These abound in inflationary periods  when money seems to   lose its worth constantly and investors are always looking for something which will, at least, retain its value!  Essentially, its purpose is to take some unpopular object of low worth and by various devices restructure its public image so that it will be highly esteemed and its monetary value vastly increased.  It has been employed to create a fictitious public image of an individual, far removed from reality and totally without foundation.  PROMOTIONS HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED GAINFULLY IN BUSINESS, THE ARTS AND POLITICS !!!!

Since we are discussing antiques, let us confine ourselves to the way promotions function in this field.  Allow me to begin by dividing all antiques into two categories.  The first, is what I call "Solid" and the second is "Promotional".  In the first, I would include 18th century furniture, Chinese porcelains of the most desirable periods and the best Dutch and Flemish paintings of the 17th century.  These items always have been in demand, were collected and were very expensive even when new.  The collecting of such objets d'art was in the tradition of the 18th century French aristocracy and the rest of the European nobility accepted French cultural leadership and tried to emulate the lifestyle of their French brethren.  Chinese porcelains was admired and collected since first they discovered its existence!  Its lustrous surface and transparency gave it an elegance which their pottery did not possess.  Even after Bottger accidentally discovered the secret of making true porcelain in Meissen in the early 18th century, Chinese ceramics and art continued to be a prime favorite in Europe.  Early Chinese porcelain was collected then and it is still avidly collected now!  I call these "Solid" antiques because their popularity was inspired NATURALLY, is time-tested and never goes out of style!!!

Since, in the period before World War II, no serious collector would consider 19th century  artifacts, the great interest in these present collectibles is the result of assiduous promotion.  These include such items as Faberge creations, music boxes, dolls Art Nouveau artifacts, depression glass, etc.  The trade was fully aware that there many people in the post-war inflation who, although they had surplus money to invest in antiques, still could not afford "solid" antiques and were frustrated in their desire to be "in"!

In the interest of the common good and in order to render a genuine social service, there were many who were willing and eager to relieve these unfortunates of both their frustration and their surplus cash!!!  The methodology employed is very old and is still fashionable.
In my youth, I first observed promotion as practiced by some dealers in oil painters.  It begins with a small, select group who chooses a talented but UNRECOGNIZED, DECEASED painter whose creations were obtainable at very low prices.  It is essential for their purpose that he be dead, guaranteeing that these be limited on the art market.  The coterie now begins a surreptitious campaign, avoiding a rise in prices, to acquire as many of his paintings as possible.  They continue their efforts until they believe that most of his works are in their keeping.  Let us assume that they pay an average price of $400.

After the completion of this, the first stage, the second begins.  Here writers  for art and associated publications are "persuaded" to pen articles about the painter and his art.  With the proper inducement they discover that he has been neglected and his creations, long unrecognized,  are really great works-of-art!  Our group now "convinces" a museum curator of the great need to research the painter's life and, "Lo and Behold", he finds that this is a neglected genius and establishes his rightful, high place among his contemporaries!!!  The entire art world is now regaled by these glowing accounts.  Our promoters now place a few of his paintings in prestigious auction galleries with whom they have a working arrangement.  They pay a very special fee for buy-backs!  Using collusive bidding they achieve prices averaging $10,000! 

The final stage is a well-publicized exhibition with a gala opening and a sumptuous catalogue.  Prices are high and, if a prospective buyer demurs, he is shown the artificially-achieved prices in the auction catalogues.  Suddenly, our hero, after his death of course, becomes a highly collectible artist and possession of one or more of his paintings is a definite status symbol.  He becomes fashionable and a cult grows up around him!!  All this provides the initiators of the process with a great deal of pecuniary satisfaction.

It must be admitted that the above-mentioned arrangements cost quite a bit of money but, in the end, these proved to be a very profitable investment!!!
This hoary scheme has often been used in the art and antique fields and probably will continue to be employed in the foreseeable future!  As Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute."

A cynic added, "And two to take him!!!"

In recent times this methodology has been used with so-called "Salor Turkmen rugs" and "Fragments".

I will discuss these in future publications.  As the French say so wisely, "The more it changes, the more it remains the same!"

In conclusion, it is hoped that I have given my reader some insight into the "Antiques Mania" 

Sam's saying: Everyone has the right to make a mistake but no one has the right to repeat it!!!

Sam