World Rugs

Rippon Boswell Germany’s Grosse Fruehjahrsauktion - with full colour printed catalogue just received at World Rugs. (The last RB Germany sale was promoted mainly via a CD-ROM distribution of their online catalogue, the shape of things to come we think when catalogue printing costs add in such a massive overhead that is an enterprise-killer to specialist auctioneers even as successful as Rippon Boswell)

First impressions: not great. Looks a somewhat humdrum collection. Nothing at all spectacular, nothing major (by RB Germany’s standards) and only a few items of even passing interest.

There’s what looks like a nice Pinwheel Kazak (Lot 101 - estimate 9,000 euros), but for some reason these seem to have lost their market - a great on at the recent Sotheby’s London sale was among the few items in that over-estimate beanfest not to sell.

Older, more beautiful, but considerably more battered is what was once a lovely Fachralo Kazak prayer rug in the Kaffel class (Nr 70 - estimate 7,500 euros), and in possibly even worse shape is what looks to be an extremely early Sarouk prayer rug although unlikely to predate 1880 CE, despite the Mitte 19. Jhdt. dating of the catalogue (Nr. 84 - est. 9000 euros).

There’s a terrific Shahsevan Djidjim (Nr 87 - est. 6,400 euros) - we are really into these colorful minimalist stripy textiles at present - also, a rather wierd but undoubtedly quite rare and no more than marginally ugly silk Heriz prayer rug (nr 77 - est 18,000 euros) and an almost-pretty heavily inscribed Malayer (nr 76 - est 8,000 euros) and a very unusual, powerful and extremely ugly weeping willow and medallion Bijar carpet (Nr 31 - 8,800 euros).

The highest estimate appears to be 24,000 euros for an early, circa 1800, worn and reduced Kansu carpet, while a sharp little Baluch soffreh, Nr. 74, attracts a rather optimistic 5,500 euros. A very attractive and rare Akstafa in a vertically striped design with animals and kotshak boxes in the border looks cheap in comparison with its 6,500 estimate, as indeed does a standard but all-there Tekke khalyk (nr 142) at 8,000 euros (which would have fetched at least 12 grand or more in the khalyk heyday of the late 1980s)

Very Wiesbaden are a big Gerus wagireh, (Lot 163) worn out but ultra funky, no steal at 16,500 euro estimate, a groovy Yomut mafrash (Nr 93) at a stunning 12,500 euro estimate, and a cool ‘Eagle Group’ (nee Imreli) torba Lot 42 at a more reasonable 6,600 euros estimate.

And that is pretty much it, at a first glance. I personally liked a brutal looking Uzbek main carpet, nr 95 (estimate 7,000 euros) but maybe not to every taste. And these rest is just about what you would expect to find in Wiesbaden in the summer. Maybe there is some thing that we’ve missed….