| Subject | : | A tough question - can we subdivide? |
| Author | : | Steve Price |
| Date | : | 10-10-1999 on 09:00 a.m. |
| sprice@hsc.vcu.edu Dear Jerry, In thinking about the request - best rugs of all time - it occurs to me that we might be comparing apples and oranges a lot of the time. That is, how do we judge across lines like urban workshop rug, tribal bag or trapping, and so forth? I know that subdividing can be the thin end of a long wedge (within tribal, for instance, do we compare Turkmen with Kurdish, and so forth down ever finer divisions? How?). Is the Pazyryk one of the best? It's certainly important historically, but is it among the best by other criteria? Steve Price |
| Subject | : | RE:A tough question - can we subdivide? |
| Author | : | Patrick+Weiler |
| Date | : | 10-10-1999 on 11:42 a.m. |
| jpweiler@worldnet.att.net Um, Steve, are you still working on the top ten rugs of a Previous Millenium? The Pazyryk is a COUPLE of thousand years old. I suppose if I wanted to generate controversy, I could nominate that Cyr Yomut rug....... Patrick Weiler |
| Subject | : | RE:A tough question - can we subdivide? |
| Author | : | Marvin Amstey |
| Date | : | 10-10-1999 on 11:48 a.m. |
| For new discoveries this century, I agree with Patrick. Regards, Marvin |
| Subject | : | RE:A tough question - can we subdivide? |
| Author | : | Steve Price |
| Date | : | 10-10-1999 on 12:53 p.m. |
| sprice@hsc.vcu.edu Dear Patrick and Marvin, Patrick first. Okay, the Pazyryk is disqualified. But the basic issue doesn't disappear, I just used a bad example (did I hear someone snickering?). Marvin: Do you mean that you think the Cyr Yomud is one of the 10 best pieces of all time (not counting the Pazyryk)? I've not seen it in person, only photos, so it might be very much better than I think it is (then again, it might be very much worse!), but I wouldn't even be inclined to include it among the 10 best Turkmen. And I am not sure what you mean by "discoveries this century". I assume that it's something like "discovered by western collectors in the 20th century", but that term would include practically every known Turkmen textile (there's a handful that were collected before the turn of the century, but very few and even those were collected pretty late in the 19th century). Steve Price |
| Subject | : | It's up to you all. |
| Author | : | Jerry Silverman |
| Date | : | 10-10-1999 on 03:02 p.m. |
| Subdivide if you feel you must. But try not to whittle the groups down to "Best Main Rugs from the North Shore of the Amu Darya made by Left-Handed Sisters." Major tribal groupings should create enough controversy. I'm still not sure you need to subdivide. Were you to address the "10 most significant rugs of the millennium" - ten rugs might be all you'd need. -Jerry- |
| Subject | : | RE:A tough question - can we subdivide? |
| Author | : | Marvin Amstey |
| Date | : | 10-11-1999 on 12:32 p.m. |
| Dear Steve, I meant only among recently discovered Turkomen pieces - not as a best ever. I'll need to think hard about the "best" ever. For Caucasian, I'd agree with Mike Tschebull about the Star Kazak, but I would not agree with his Turkomen selection. But that may be the problem: ask 10 people and we'll get different responses. It's like listing your ten best novels or the century's most important 100 people: all the answers will differ (but will the differences be more than random?). I'll keep thinking. Best regards, Marvin |