Spring 2003 sale, 17th May 2003
Danny Shaffer wrote the following sales report for HALI.com:
Marking Time
Rippon Boswell's Spring 2003 sale in Wiesbaden (17 May) offered a good number of high quality, market fresh collectables. The sale was a qualified success, not comparable in terms of either yield or sold percentages, nor in attendance, to their November 2003 sale. However in difficult market conditions the auctioneer was justified to be pleased with the results.
Rather surprisingly, top price on the day, € 79,200 ($91,100, including 20% buyer's premium), was paid in the room by a European dealer (almost certainly on behalf of a private client) for a very bold 17th century Karapinar medallion rug, despite the fact that it had ample amounts of very high quality restoration. This striking rug is somewhat reminiscent of the famous Cantoni Karapinar in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (HALI 29, p.50).
The Karapinar was one of several good old Turkish rugs in the sale, including an immaculate late 17th century 'Transylvanian' prayer rug, which was bought in the room by a private collector for € 45,600 ($52,440). When he called the lot, auctioneer Detlef Maltzahn made a point of showing the rug's back to the audience, so that they could see the obvious lazy lines outlining a large central diamond shaped area of red wefting. An attractive 19th century Konya prayer rug, lot 137, fetched € 10,200 ($11,730), while a very pretty and colourful late 18th/early 19th century Bergama medallion rug, lot 54-A, was bought by the auctioneers' favourite classical musician, Ferdinand Erblich, for a very reasonable € 6,960 ($8,000). In the evening after the sale, the Friedrichstrasse rooms were turned into a concert chamber for Herr Erblich and his colleagues in the Arioso Quartet to entertain the Maltzahn's guests with music by Mozart and Schubert.
There were a number of Anatolian kilims on offer. Lot 24-A, a very fine Erzurum prayer kilim in pristine condition, dated 1284 AH (1868 AD) and with substantial metal thread highlights, was a snip at just € 4,800 ($5,520), and a decorative Sivas kilim saf, also in very good shape, fetched just half that sum. Two collectable pre-1800 Cappadocian kilims, lots 34 and 98, made € 9,600 ($11,040) and € 15,600 ($17,940) respectively, again showing that Wiesbaden is one of the few places where such kilims can find buyers.
Among Caucasian goods, lot 46, a large Azerbaijan embroidered panel, much less yellow than it appeared on the sale catalogue cover, fetched € 28,800 ($33,120), while lot 94 the most interesting and important carpet on offer, the complete so-called 'proto-pinwheel' rug of ca. 1700 or earlier (HALI 127, p.40), was bought for € 45,600 ($52,440) by the leading Italian dealer Moshe Tabibnia. Arguably he paid substantially rather less than its true value for this intriguing carpet, even taking its worn condition into account.
Tabibnia also paid € 31,200 ($35,880) to outbid a leading US collector on lot 121, a very strong 18th century (?) yellow-ground palmette design Kuba long rug, almost identical to, but rather more worn than, the Freiberger Collection rug illustrated by Martin Volkmann in 'Old Eastern Carpets II' (Munich 1985, p.63). A London dealer paid a very substantial € 38,400 ($44,160) for lot 31, a large square format Kuba carpet with striking round palmettes covering the field. This very decorative carpet was published by Bausback in 1978 ('Antike Orientteppiche', p.263), who despite the presence of synthetic colours which mean that it cannot be older than about 1870, dated it to the 18th century. Both lot 122, a densely decorated white-ground Daghestan rug, and a very colourful Talish long rug, lot 143, made € 13,200 ($15,180).
Turkmen pieces were a bit below par for Wiesbaden. The best of them, an excellent early Saryk ensi, lot 62, fetched € 27,600 ($31,750), while another Saryk piece, lot 40, a torba with a rare design but lacking star quality was bought by a US collector for € 20,400 ($23,460). A handsome Yomut carpet, lot 141, with well-articulated dyrnak göls and colourful 'tree' alems, made € 15,600 ($17,940). Several other Turkmens, however, including a well-known Eagle-göl group II main carpet (Rautenstengel & Azadi, pl.12) failed to sell.
A magnificent white-ground all silk Tekke chyrpy (lot 55, see HALI 127, p.59) fetched € 16,800 ($19,320). Best of the Uzbek suzanis was lot 149, a pretty yellow-ground Kermina embroidery, which fetched € 8,640 ($9,940).
Baluches too were off peak, and what had looked in the catalogue like a good Timuri main carpet, lot 4, was dark and disappointing in the flesh. It sold to a collector in the room for just € 6,000 ($6,900). A better deal was had by a well-known German-resident US dealer who bought a colourful camel-ground Sistan Baluch prayer rug (lot 101, unillustrated) for just € 1,200 ($1,380). Best of the Xinjiang pieces was a lovely little pomegranate-design Khotan mat, lot 112, advertised many years ago in HALI by Ronnie Newman, which deserved to make € 13,200 ($15,180). Lot 8, a very crisply drawn and well coloured 18th century Ningxia medallion rug, sold for € 10,800 ($12,420).
Among Persian rugs, lot 14, a very good looking west Iranian silk prayer rug speculatively attributed to the Bakhtiari, sold for € 15,600 ($17,940), while a very good-looking Varamin mina khani rug on an unusual yellow ground, lot 39, was inexpensive at € 9,840 ($11,320). A good price (€ 24,000/$27,600) was paid for lot 83, an equally handsome large format Kerman Afshar 'Vase' carpet.
Finally, the top decorative carpet of the sale was lot 84, an attractive north Indian carpet from the end of the 19th century, in which the motifs are larger in scale in relation to the overall format than is usual. Consigned by an Indian owner, it was bought on the telephone by a Milanese dealer for € 66,000 ($ 75,900).
With approximately 55% of lots sold and a gross yield, including buyer's premiums of about € 900,000, the sale was less successful than might have been hoped, but given its timing so soon after the Washington ICOC and other events, more productive than anyone had a right to expect.