The following is practically a verbatim copy of an article which I wrote for “ARTS, The Islamic World” which was published in 1986:

As a veteran collector, with many years of experience,  I have lived with and loved the Oriental carpet.  The rich palette of colors, the fascinating designs and the lovely patina which only age can grant the pile, gave a warmth, not only to my living quarters but also to my very existence!  I regarded these artifacts, often created  by untutored and illiterate nomads and peasants, as works of art.  In my eyes, these offered far more aesthetic satisfaction than the daubs of “modern” artists like Andy Warhol!!  Since I have acquired most of my pieces, their monetary value has greatly increased.  Aficionados, who have seen my collection, assure me that now I am a wealthy man.  If this is so, I have achieved a state to which I am unaccustomed because, throughout my life, money and I have been barely on speaking terms.  In fact, any respectable church-mouse would not have hesitated to snub me!  However, regardless of what these “Objets d’Art” might bring on the open market, how can one evaluate the pleasure I get when I look at them?? 

I began my collecting career during World War II.  Although antiques were popular in the “Roaring Twenties”, the “Great Depression” almost totally destroyed the interest in and appreciation of these items. This hiatus continued into the fifties when the example, set by the Kennedys re-established the fashion of collecting antiques.  A great factor too was the inflation resulting from Keynsian-inspired economic policies.  This created  a frantic buying of art and antiques as a hedge against this occurrence.  In the interlude, prior to the latter, all antiques, including Oriental carpets, were ridiculously cheap!!  This was extremely fortunate for me because if “Money is the root of all evil”, I was practically a saint!!!

Especially, the Oriental rug was hard-hit during this period because the interior decorators had decreed that it was out and that the only acceptable floor-covering was broadloom carpeting.  Untold number of housewives tossed their beautiful  Oriental rugs out on the street!!  This phenomenon laid the foundation of the present fortune of many a far-seeing, enterprising rug dealer!!!

Practically no literature existed to help me take the first faltering steps into the veiled mysteries of my newly-found infatuation.  Most of the available writings dealt with the Persian court carpets of the 16th and 17th centuries and served as promotional material for their cheaply-acquired specimens.  Since my interest lay chiefly with 19th century rural textiles, these tomes were of little or no use to me!  Even so, I read everything I could find on the subject.

My Oriental rug pursuits were divided into two categories.  The first was the theoretical aspect and involved voracious reading of the available literature, haunting museums and visiting those shops that featured the best pieces.  In the last, I could handle the weavings, appreciate their salient characteristics and try to glean as much information as possible from the knowledgeable proprietors.  The second, or practical phase, took me to out-of-way  places like junk shops, second-hand stores and obscure auction galleries.  There, if one had some knowledge, Dame Fortune might bless you with a fantastic rug at an incredibly low price!  Considering the funds at my disposal, such sources presented me with the only opportunities to obtain such treasures.

I remember once, while wandering aimlessly through a derelict district, a junk shop caught my ever-roving eye and its exploration became obligatory.  This revealed rusty, old bicycles, broken-down refrigerators, washing machines of an early vintage which had seen better days, radios in urgent need of repair, various items 0f worn clothing and other dregs of our contemporary civilization.  In one corner, however, I spied a pile of tattered, Oriental rug remnants which would have gladdened the heart of any Nurnberg dealer in old kilims!  Groping through this debris, I chanced upon a lovely, old Caucasian rug in excellent condition except that the dark-brown portion of the pile was eroded almost to the foundation.  This produced a beautiful bas-relief effect and served to authenticate its age.  I asked, “How much?”  He replied, “Fifty dollars; that’s a good one.”  In joyful amazement and to be sure that I had heard correctly. I repeated, “Fifty dollars??”  He now noticed the erosion, concluded that it was worn, and asked,” How about thirty-five?”  Disdaining to bargain, a favorite practice, I paid him his price quickly before he could change is mind and rapidly departed.  Alas, those days are gone!!!

My many years collecting Oriental rugs have aided me in garnering some knowledge of the art of acquiring, appreciating and evaluating these delightful artifacts.  I have been asked frequently by eager neophytes about the attributes that make a successful collector.  These are listed in the order of their importance:
(1)  One should have a love for this branch of textile art and an innate feeling for beauty.  The latter is a talent not granted to everyone but, by application, can be cultivated and enhanced like any other talent! 
(2)  This aptitude may best be cultivated by critically judging as many specimens as possible.  Obviously, dealers, who are forced to evaluate a large number of carpets in the course of their professional activities, have the greatest opportunities in this respect.
(3)  It is necessary to devote much time and energy to a close, critical study of  the relevant literature.  This may prove to be very helpful but is far less worthwhile than those mentioned above and is NO substitute for them!  Always remember that putting a statement in print is NO guarantee as to its truth and/or accuracy.  During the era, when I began, there was a dearth of literature which might have been of practical assistance.  I depended principally on “Facts about Oriental Rugs” by Charles W. Jacobsen.  It was printed privately in 1931 and revised in 1962.  The revised edition “Oriental Rugs a Complete Guide” was published which was an elaboration of the former work.  I found it extremely helpful and today, many years later, it is still a reference for me!  The author was a dealer in Syracuse, N.Y., where he had functioned a long time, and his books reflect his vast experience!!  Although his expertise is mainly confined to new carpets, I found his information on older pieces  and his comments on the ’62 rug scene extremely helpful.  He did not suffer from the fear of offending, so common among dealers, but adhered to the principle, “Tell it like it is!” which is perhaps his greatest virtue!!!  It should be noted that a number of excellent books, published outside of the U.S., were not available to me.

The great renaissance of interest in rural Oriental rugs began in Germany during the early sixties, sparked by exhibitions in Frankfurt and Hamburg which led to a best-seller, “Caucasian Rugs” by the late Dr. Schurmann, an excellent book.  The Germans developed “Kasak Fever” and their dealers poured into the U.S.A. buying every one of these pieces  which were available at full RETAIL prices!!!  Jacobsen writes, “I have fallen victim to their visits and have sold thousands of dollars worth to these European buyers.  Why?  Because they are willing to pay more than the American public will pay.  The astonishing fact is that these are wholesale dealers who buy from us.  They in turn sell to retail dealers, who in turn must make a profit when they sell to an individual.  So, it would seem that the individual in Europe is paying double the price Americans are willing to pay for these old Caucasian rugs”!!!

As I compare the paucity of available rug literature, when I started my hobby, to the spate of such writings today, I am amazed and mystified.  The latter has caused me to search for the root cause of this phenomenon.  At present, the market is flooded with treatises by people who have never dealt in or collected Oriental carpets!!  In particular, the academics have crawled out of the woodwork to infest the rug scene.  Some of this ilk, after establishing an undeserved reputation from their literary efforts, leave their professional pursuits to become dealers.  Others, strictly adhere to the academic maxim “PUBLISH OR PERISH”  Fully armed with a plethora of verbiage and a paucity of knowledge, they sally forth into the literature!!!  They laud the works and erudition of each other, especially in the media.  I call this activity “MUTUAL MASTERBATION”.  As a collector, it is unnecessary to have a bookcase of tomes whose only differences are the illustrations, the title and the name of the author!  The ethnologists are especially interesting.  Some of them, mostly museum personnel, have taken to visiting the more primitive rug-producing tribes, whose lifestyle has remained relatively unchanged, and writing about their creations, replete with color photographs, emphasizing the role that weaving plays in their daily lives.  In this connection, it should be noted that Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines ethnology as follows: “a science that deals with the division of mankind into races and their origin, distribution and characteristics.”  Nowhere do I discern any mention of Oriental rugs or other weavings!  It readily can be understood that these savants, laboring under the above-mentioned maxim, are tempted to pontificate on any subject even when they are unencumbered by a knowledge thereof!!  Since this avalanche is comparatively recent, I cannot help but wonder if it is not somehow related to the enormous increase in the interest in and the consequent, sharp rise in their monetary value?  The income and prestige derived from this activity may also be a factor!  Whatever cultural benefits these works may have to offer, it may well be assumed that they have little to grant to a serious collector.  TO THESE HACKS, I QUOTE THE OLD ADAGE, “SHOEMAKER, STICK TO YOUR LAST”.

One must also recognize that the publishers of this claptrap, who appear to be beguiled by academic credentials, bear a large measure of this responsibility for foisting it upon a gullible public!  For instance, a doctorate in art-history merely certifies that the holder thereof has acquired a more-or-less knowledge of art-history.  It does not guarantee that he or she knows anything about Oriental textiles!!!  Traditionally, the fine-art museums have looked askance at so-called applied art  The nomad and peasant rugs of the 19th century were regarded as “degenerate” examples and therefor these “naïve” and “primitive” creations had no place there!  It is no accident that the great revival of interest in these weavings was initiated by their exhibitions in the Frankfort and Hamburg Folk-Art Museums!  An art-historian, functioning as a curator of Oriental carpets, could by assiduously reading the copious literature and studying  the 16th and 17th century specimens in his museum, may achieve some expertise regarding these antique textiles.  It must be obvious that he could obtain little experience with later rugs because such items were NOT housed in his museum!!  It must be equally obvious that he or she can have nothing significant to say about them!!!  What is even more distressing is the writings of some non-academics like dealers and collectors who try to “dignify” their efforts by including their own anthropological or art-historical theories.  They don’t even have the necessary, academic background!!  Finally, it should be noted that many books on the subject fail to give the relevant history of the author.  The publishers probably have a very sound reason for this omission!!!

The literature plays an important role in “Promotions”, a process which I have discussed elsewhere!  Initiators of promotions do so, almost invariably in the hope of financial gain.  This applies to dealers, collectors and museums!  These also are motivated by a stern dedication to self-welfare!!!  Promotion has been  and is presently employed in many branches of art.  The printed word plays an important role in this process!  A good example is the method by which by which a magazine devoted to Oriental textiles has caused the desire for and the value of certain, small utility pieces to skyrocket.  It is an open secret that, if a particular class of rugs is featured in the literature, its monetary value is greatly enhanced!  So it is extremely helpful, if a dealer or a collector desires to sell a particular item, to be able to show the same piece (or one similar) illustrated in an established periodical and the more famous the author, the more valuable the reference.  Exhibitions, and their related catalogues, can play a vital role in promotions which is why  some collectors will finance a museum exhibition of their carpets.  They will also support a writer to produce a book depicting their rugs!

Our field has been overwhelmed by written material dealing with “Rug Scholarship”.  I find these efforts to consist of about one percent fact, thirty percent conjecture and sixty-nine percent fantasy.  It is only natural for academics to discuss our subject in terms of their own discipline.  Here, they imply that only those, who have mastered that discipline can claim to be a REAL expert!!!  There are some who claim expertise because they have lived for a period in the Near East.  One bacteriologist did just that and wound up as a director of a  prominent textile museum.  Still, whatever experts exist are to be found for the most part in the Western World.  Not to be overlooked is the author, like a certain high school teacher who has read extensively on the subject but is neither collector nor dealer.  ONE THING MAY BE SAID WITHOUT HESITATION; HE HAS A RETENTIVE MEMORY!!!  His labors are now used to stake a claim to connoisseurship and to justify the writing of books wherein the author draws liberally on his memory!

An amusing story is told about this gentleman.  Some time ago, he was instrumental in producing an exhibition of carpets.  The “Hali” representative, surveying the collection, said that some of the pieces were rather ugly.  Our hero snapped “I’m not running a beauty contest”!  Shortly thereafter he gave a lecture on AESTHETICS.  Deponent rests!  This man is NOT an expert on Oriental rugs but rather the literature thereof!!!  A case in point may be noted in “Hali 5/4 (Turkish Hand Weaving at Plankenstein Castle by W.S.) wherein this reporter maintained that after only one and a half years the owner had become an expert.  I believe that such scribbling  is not worth the paper it is printed on!!!

Despite the plethora of written material in anthropological, art-historical and structural terms, all presented under the cover of “Rug Scholarship” (I usually spell the last by changing the last letter), almost nothing has appeared which deals with the aesthetics which the Oriental rug offers as a work of art!  The writer maintains that this consideration is, by far, its most important aspect!!  When you ask a collector why he has acquired a certain textile he will usually answer “Because I liked it”!!!  The reaction to the Oriental carpet, like any other artistic endeavor, is fundamentally EMOTIONAL.  This is touched on in “Rugs of the Peasants and Nomads of Anatolia” by Bruggemann and Bohmer.  I quote, “To this day the judgments made by connoisseurs are largely based on feeling and there is nothing to be said against  this “ (page 40)  At the first “International Conference on Turkish Rugs”, I developed the concept that the reaction to the Oriental is personally unique and a socio-psychological phenomenon!!!

In conclusion, it is my considered opinion that a knowledge of the relevant literature is essential for the serious collector.  Since most of our tribe tends to specialize in some particular category, it would be wise to for them to confine themselves to books devoted to this group!  Above all, read critically and always question the author’s credentials!!!  Do NOT accept the printed word as though it were  out of the bible.  In as much as the most important aesthetic characteristic is its colors, the inclusion of accurate, high-quality illustrations is highly desirable!  The latter should be the best possible substitute for seeing the rugs themselves.  It would be tempting to append a list of books that I have found particularly useful.  Although these works have met my personal needs, there is no guarantee that  these will do the same for my readers.  Therefore, I will stoutly resist this temptation and encourage him to find his own way through the literary jungle.  It is hoped that this exposition will, in some way, prove of service!

Sam’s saying: It is regrettable that commonsense isn’t common!
 

Sam