This is a good salon topic and since Steve and I are to make a Textile Museum presentation on March 17 of a very similar subject, and since out handout is still in draft, perhaps we'll hear about some sites we should include.

Sites of interest to "rug collectors" should likely be distinguished from those of interest to people who might like rugs but who are perhaps only decorating their home.

And I was disappointed that you didn't give us at least a couple of your favorite sites in your initial essay.

One of the things that rug collectors are likely interested in is information about the rugs they collect and the countries in which they were likely made.

On this side of things I think one of my favorite sites is the one on Symmetry and Pattern in Oriental Rugs. This is a cooperative effort headed by Carol Bier , formerly Curator for Easter Hemisphere at The Textile Museum, but interestingly also supported by some mathematicians at Swarthmore College.

It is based on an exhibition that Carol curated at the TM a couple of years ago.

One of the things I like about this site is that often "see" new things in some rug patterns after I read or re-read it.

Here is the link to this site:

http://forum.swarthmore.edu/geometry/rugs/carpets/index.html

On the general interest side of things, I recommend the site by Jacobsen's, the old-line rug store in Syracuse, NY. Old man Jacobsen has been dead for at least 25 years but some of the imagination with which he approached the rug market (he would ship to you on approval three times the number of rugs you estimated you wanted to purchase) is still visible in the Jacobsen's site.

I like how they take on some real learning tasks on this site and even find ways to let you test what you have learned.

Here is that link:

http://www.jacobsenrugs.com/

When you get there, "choose a topic."

Regards,

R. John Howe

After a few days you pointed out most of the best Websites.

The four one I prefer, and I am quite sure many of you share my choices, are Marla Mallett’s website, Cloudband, Textile Gallery and … yes, Turkotek.

What’s important to know is why we selected these one.

Among their common characteristic all these websites are well organized and easy to use, offer high quality pieces with good photo, and are dedicated to bringing knowledge and appreciation of Textile and Asian art.

Looking to the pieces and the information available on “Textile Art”, reading “From Cradle to Grave” one of the last article published on Cloudband is a real delight…

What I like with Marla Mallett is the way she involves other humble collector’s like me and other experts in original projects like her “End Finishes Project”.

http://www.marlamallett.com/end.htm

The last update, the result of a mutual work, is a fascinating and pretty page.

http://www.marlamallett.com/up-six.htm

Enjoy,

Daniel Deschuyteneer

The virtue of Marla’s website, besides to be so informative that one can consider it a real "on-line book", is that it works perfectly well - Cloudband is good but it suffers from a poor design, I agree with Steve.
Cloudband "British" English doesn’t bother me, though. I find quite funny Steve remarks about that! But then, I’m not an English speaker.

Marla was also so kind to put 3 of my items on "End Finishes Project" but I used to like her site LONG BEFORE THAT, believe me! Of course, the possibility to be involved in her project is a further bonus.
I love TurkoTek too. It’s the only decent discussion forum I found on the web.
Regards,
Filiberto