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Salon du Tapis d'Orient

The Salon du Tapis d'Orient is a moderated discussion group in the manner of the 19th century salon devoted to oriental rugs and textiles and all aspects of their appreciation. Please include your full name and e-mail address in your posting.


The Agony and the Ecstasy...Mostly the Agony!

by Filiberto Marasali and Booker T. Silverman

Taste changes. Remember Fu Manchu moustaches? Nehru jackets? Your first rugs?

All right, time to 'fess up. We've all been there. Maybe we were just young and foolish. Or maybe we were old and foolish. Whatever, we were definitely foolish when some rug caught our eye. What can we say now? There it is, lurking in a pile under more recent purchases that reflect our more accomplished sensibilities. We can't get rid of it.
No one would take it in trade. Heck, we'd be embarrassed to even show it to a dealer.

But not today!

Today we swallow our pride, suppress our embarrassment, and boldly go where no man/woman with a modicum of taste has gone before. Today we post our ugliest rugs. The ones that exist only to elicit the question, "What the hell were you thinking???!!!" The ones that we keep around not only because no one else wants them, but because they serve as reminders of where we were and where we've come. (It would be nice, though, if you tried to explain what it was that got you to fork over good money for your monstrosity.)

There are only a couple of ground rules:

(1) This isn't the Miss Universe contest. No artificial enhancements! Leave Photoshop out of it. This must be ugliness that speaks for itself.
(2) No rugs that are for sale. I know, this rules out the richly fertile hunting ground of the bizarre known as eBay, but you've got to draw a line somewhere or it would be too easy.

So c'mon. Let's see what you've got. Don't be ashamed. It's not like everyone in the world with Internet access can see. (Oh, uh...I guess they can.)

And for those of you who just can't bring yourselves to puclicly acknowledge your blunders, even on April Fool's Day, you may submit pictures of rugs you don't own but are too ugly to ignore. Keep in mind Rule #2, though. To start us off, here are a few that are not yet available on the internet. Let's hope they stay that way.

Regards,

Filiberto and Booker


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