How 'bout using this forum for submitting one of your rugs for consideration? (For the purposes of this exhibition, Midwest Collections are those located between the Appalacian mountains on the east, the Rockies on the west, the border waters on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. If the land drains into the Mississippi River, that's good enough; just not the Left or Right Coast, okay?)

This little exercise will give us an opportunity to try out some of the formulae that have been proposed in other threads in this Salon. So far the discussions have all been a bit theoretical. Some actual examples are bound to be far more instructive.

And now that I think of it, there's no reason why we can't at least talk about rugs from collections outside the Midwest. We just can't accept them for the exhibition, no matter how rare or beautiful.

I know this is a little like putting one of your kids on the stage and asking the audience if he/she is good looking enough, but think of it as a contribution to the advancement/refinement of the aesthetics of rugdom.

Audaciously,

-Jerry-

Your suggestion is really interesting but it is also sort of intimidating for some. Especially for those who are interested in rugs and carpets, the art but have not come to the point of owning rare and beautiful pieces. But would it not be a wonderful session where we send in what we have (the best we can afford) and see what others have to say? For myself, I am dying to know what others think of one or two of my rugs...(not rare and beautiful but good enough for me...) In doing so, the "younger" and "eager" people can learn from their "mistakes" and try to look out for what is "rare and beautiful". I assume that this is along the philosophy of this forum which is to educate and exchange ideas so as to learn from one another and enrich what we know and in turn help us enjoy the art form.

I don't know how long you've been dropping in on this site, but there have been many, many rugs discussed on the Show and Tell - some world-class, others less-so - some owned by noted collectors, others by complete novices. Each piece and each collector was treated with respect.

Go ahead and post your stuff. We'd enjoy it.

Cordially,

-Jerry-

P.S. And what about those of you with "rare and beautiful" rugs? I know you're out there. Cat got your tongue?

If I'm on the selection committee, this piece gets on the short list.

Regards,

Steve Price

Filiberto

Regards, Yon

Inquiringly,

Patrick Weiler

Filiberto

I said it would be on my short list if I were on the selection committee. You ask, why?

Here's my answer: I like it a lot.

Regards,

Steve Price

If that's the standard our exhibition is going to have to live up to, am I ever in deep doo-doo.

Does "rare" have to mean "unique"?

By the way, Marvin, this rug would make our short list, too. Any chance of your
moving a couple hundred miles west?

-Jerry-

Pat asks for a rationale for why Steve puts it on his short list and Steve responds that it's there because Steve "likes it."

I do too, but this does not advance much the sorts of things we usually strive for here.

Let me try to provide a somewhat more detail rationale for my own liking of this piece. First, I do think it's relatively rare and I think Jerry provides some evidence of that. So, the primary thing I have to explicate is why I think this piece is beautiful.

1. This is going to drive Yon Bard up the wall, but I find the weaver's use of color very harmonious. No individual color grabs my eye, although each contributes to the overall effect.

2. I find this rug VERY graphically attractive. The medallions have "punch" and the border is a well-disciplined version of a familiar one that has its own graphic impact. The border successfully "frames" the field without undermining the latter's central graphic role.

3. The drawing of all the elements is excellent and exhibits a nice clarity throughout.

4. The piece has for me what we rather spookily call "presence." It "speaks" to me. It's message reaches out and demands attention. The rug has a very real "dignity." And it projects as kind of definite calming, peaceful, graphic resolution. It seems comfortable and at ease.

Can this rug be critiqued? As a Turkmen collector, I'm always interested in preserving spaciousness and I think this piece would be even better than it is in aesthetic terms if it had fewer "filler" devices in the field. But this latter is just a quibble and doesn't in fact lead me to grade this piece down aesthetically at all.

If we justify our choices here primarily with the phrase "I like it," conversations are likely to be brief and not much will be learned about the "why" of our respective likings. Now perhaps it will be objected that I merely demonstrate how difficult it is to put our favorable judgements about pieces we "like" into words but I think there is often something to be learned from trying.

Nice rug, Marvin. I REALLY like it.

Regards,

R. John Howe

What John said about the rug. Me too.

Steve Price

That wasn't so painful, was it?

Now who else has a piece for us to consider? Think of it as an exercise in connoisseurship.

-Jerry-