Posted by Marvin Amstey on June 09, 1999 at 08:13:44:
In Reply to: Re: 'Old and established firms' posted by Yon Bard on June 09, 1999 at 07:48:11:
: : I covered this subject in detail in my webpage "RugLore" under the titles of "Advice To New Collectors" and "Buying". The last might be most appropriate to the present discussion. All incipiant collectors must acknowledge that LUCK plays a decisive role. You must be in the right place at the right time! My webpage address is as follows : http://home.earthlink.net/~gordsa
: : Sam
: Sam, in your article you repeat the often given advice that you should buy from 'old and established firms.' To a collector of Turkomans, at least, that presents a problem: There are very few such firms that have a decent selection of old Turkomans. One is perforce left to buy at auction or from 'private' dealers. There is another problem with 'old and established dealers:' Sometimes their knowledge is outdated (to be charitable) or simply wrong (to be blunt). I don't want to name names, but I could cite the most egregious misinformation disseminated by 'old and established dealers.' Of course there are also knowledgable dealers, but how's a novice to tell?
: Regards, Yon
I'll add one anecdote to Yon's response as a fellow Turkomen collector. There is a dear friend of mine, an "old, established" dealer who is now retired (he's in his 80's). As an Armenian his true love were Caucasian and Turkish rugs - all of which, he believed, were woven by Armenians. He would not - and does not - sell these. The few Turkomens that he had were sold, not immediately, but ultimately sold, and he had no desire to acquire more, did not know the tribal distinctions, let alone the names, and didn't care. My guess is that Yon's comment and my story probably apply to most of the generation of such dealers. Therefore, other sources are often more important for certain areas of collection. Regards, Marvin