Annual Holiday Thread: Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah

[Chuck Wagner Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck Wagner]

Hi all,

Another year rolls past, and the holidays are upon us again. Everyone remain safe and healthy, and enjoy time with your families !

Here's an Uzbek oyna chalta done up in classic holiday colors, to kick off the thread:



Happy holidays !
Chuck

[PaulSmith Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PaulSmith]

Baluch tree for the season!



Cheers, Turkotekkers!

Paul

[Erik Persson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Erik Persson]

Dear Turkotek friends,

I wish you all a Merry and Blessed Christmas from Sweden with these two Christmas pictures:



This first picture is a small Turkish Hereke that somewhat imperfectly attempts to represent some famous Renaissance painting. I find the rug moving and likeable although I know well that all will not share my appreciation of this kind of rug art.

The other one is not a rug, but a Cuzco School painting. However, like in many such paintings the textiles depicted are absolutely flabbergasting and may, I hope, be of some interest also to ruggies:



As a bonus, here is an old Finnish-Swedish Christmas hymn that I have a special liking for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFtppysEl-k

Erik

[Richard Kershenbaum Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richard Kershenbaum]

Hello everyone. I came across this forum, and thought I'd see if anyone could tell us more about this carpet. My wife and I were in Istanbul last year, and decided to visit the Ferikoy Antiques Market, held on Sundays in a big parking garage, away from the areas that tourists frequent. We're not knowledgeable about carpets, and we go more for the experience, and to rub elbows with locals than to buy anything. But this carpet really grabbed us, and we had to have it.

The dealer told us that it was an Afshar soumak weave piece, probably made in Iran in the 1970s or 1980s. He had purchased it from an estate sale in istanbul. A friend who's a collector and dealer said that the central motifs are "gul farang". I've looked online, and haven't found anything quite like it. Everything is asymmetrical, and none of the patterns in the center section repeats exactly. Each of the motifs is a little different from any of the others which, for me, makes it endlessly fascinating to look at.

Any reactions from the experts here would be most welcome.

[PaulSmith Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PaulSmith]

Hi Richard, welcome to Turkotek!

Because your posting is not related to the topic (holiday-related theme), it really would have made the most sense for you to create a new topic around your piece. And probably an admin is going to encourage you to post with your actual name.

Anyway, I'm not an expert, and I'm especially at sea when it comes to pieces made after about 1920, but this looks surprisingly authentic to me, for an Afshar woven in the latter part of the 20th century. I can see why it grabbed you! It is in great condition and, while some of the colors look like they're synthetic, a lot of these colors look pretty good to me. The intense orange color appears to be a synthetic color I associate with the earlier 20th century, but I look forward to more expert eyes weighing in on this. If it really is from the 1970s, then the weaver must have been looking at an older piece as a model, as there are a lot of traditional motifs and uses of color here, IMO.

We shall await the experts...

Paul

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Great looking piece! I love the Turkish flea markets. Having a 40 year history of living and visiting there, I would say to take info from a flea market vendor with a grain of salt. They may not be trying to deceive you but their information, may not be correct either. These guys are generally honest by nature and are a jack of all trades and a master of nothing. They simply buy and sell.

Your piece is very nice and looks a little older than mentioned. For the record, I’ve never heard of an estate sale in Turkey. The laws are different in those regards. Hopefully you got it for a good price.

[Richard Kershenbaum Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richard Kershenbaum]

Hi Richard, welcome to Turkotek!

Because your posting is not related to the topic (holiday-related theme), it really would have made the most sense for you to create a new topic around your piece. And probably an admin is going to encourage you to post with your actual name.

Paul

Sorry for the newbie mistakes. I don't see any way short of creating a new profile to change my username to my actual name. But it's Richard Kershenbaum. Looking forward to any other replies.

[Richard Kershenbaum Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richard Kershenbaum]

Great looking piece! I love the Turkish flea markets. Having a 40 year history of living and visiting there, I would say to take info from a flea market vendor with a grain of salt. They may not be trying to deceive you but their information, may not be correct either. These guys are generally honest by nature and are a jack of all trades and a master of nothing. They simply buy and sell.

Your piece is very nice and looks a little older than mentioned. For the record, I’ve never heard of an estate sale in Turkey. The laws are different in those regards. Hopefully you got it for a good price.

The man we bought it from was selling at the flea market that day, but has a reputable and established shop in Istanbul. When we told him we wanted to buy this piece, he said that he wasn't able to take a credit card there, but that he would pack it up for us, and we could come to his shop the next day, which we did.

Considering how much work must have gone into designing and making this piece, the price seemed very reasonable, I don't think we overpaid. But we love it, and don't plan to ever sell it, so that's secondary to us.

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

Hi Richard

I'll change your user name to Richard Kershenbaum in a few minutes. Nothing else in your profile will change. If you repost your piece as a new topic in Show and Tell it will probably get more attention.

Steve Price

[Richard Kershenbaum Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richard Kershenbaum]

Hi Richard

I'll change your user name to Richard Kershenbaum in a few minutes. Nothing else in your profile will change. If you repost your piece as a new topic in Show and Tell it will probably get more attention.

Steve Price

Thanks very much! I'll do that. If you'd like, I can then delete the conversation here.

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

Hi Richard

Your username is now Richard Kershenbaum. You should be able to log in with it now; let me know (sprice@vcu.edu) if it gives you any backtalk.

Steve

[Richard Kershenbaum Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richard Kershenbaum]

Hi Richard

Your username is now Richard Kershenbaum. You should be able to log in with it now; let me know (sprice@vcu.edu) if it gives you any backtalk.

Steve

That works. Thanks again!

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Richard, sounds like your experience was positive and I only mentioned good price since it was a flea market. Generally you can find better deals there. No price is too high if you love a piece. I am guilty of that myself and can assume many are.

[Richard Kershenbaum Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Richard Kershenbaum]

Richard, sounds like your experience was positive and I only mentioned good price since it was a flea market. Generally you can find better deals there. No price is too high if you love a piece. I am guilty of that myself and can assume many are.

Yes, exactly. It's something we'll enjoy seeing every day.

After we got home, I looked online for anything similar. Afshar pieces of similar size and age seemed to be priced at or above what we paid -- but weren't nearly as interesting.

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Sounds like you did well and the memories will last a lifetime.