ORIENT STARS Auction a Complete Success
Wiesbaden, 6th October 1999. The evening auction held on 2nd October 1999 was a complete success. An international audience of experts, collectors, dealers and interested people crowded into the auction room to watch as 88 carpets, flatweaves, embroideries, textiles and fragments from the 'Orient Stars' collection, compiled by the Stuttgart couple Waltraut and E. Heinrich Kirchheim, were called for auction.
'Orient Stars' is considered one of the most important carpet collections worldwide. For several weeks prior to the auction, specialist magazines and economic journals predicted that Wiesbaden, the capital of the German state of Hessen, would become the 'Mecca of carpet lovers' that evening. The auction, which was also seen as an important test of the market, was thus anticipated with general excitement.
Based on the concept of the 1993 book on the collection, the auction catalogue was divided into groups, beginning with 18th and 19th century Caucasian village and tribal weavings (lots 1-16). With the exception of lots 5 and 15, all objects in that group found new owners, once again proving the enduring popularity of this collecting field. Lot 1, the famous type A Star Kazak (estimated at DM 180,000), made for an intense start; called at DM 120,000, bids quickly reached DM 200,000 in DM 10,000 increments until the lot was knocked down at DM 290,000. A rare Shahsavan tribal bag with a cruciform design in sumakh technique achieved a new world record when a written bid from the US for DM 39,000 topped what was offered by two telephone bidders.
Three of the small group of four Caucasian silk embroideries (lots 17-20) were sold, and only lot 20, a small horizontal panel showing three cypress trees on a black ground, did not find any takers.
In contrast, the third group (lots 21-30) met with a distinct lack of interest: the historic carpets from the Caucasus and Persia, although much admired in the preview, exuded a decidedly museum-like aura that probably intimidated many private collectors. Only lots 22, 23 and 28 were sold, although it has to be said that other pieces are still subject to negotiation. Sadly, the 'Barbieri' tree carpet fell by the wayside, possibly because its estimate of DM 480,000 was too optimistic.
The next group, twenty Anatolian kilims, made up for this by achieving a remarkably good result, with 13 pieces sold and just 7 pieces unsold. Due to the decline in prices in this market sector, which peaked around ten years ago, Rippon Boswell expected a poorer result for this group.
All fragments of the 'Yellow Group' were subsequently knocked down, and some of the Anatolian village rugs that followed fetched very good prices, for example lot 55 sold for DM 43,000 (estimate: DM 25,000) and lot 70 sold for DM 59,000 (estimate: DM 40,000).
After the event, we were able to register satisfaction all round. "An absolutely positive cooperation and a deep trust in Rippon Boswell & Co.,Ö" Heinrich Kirchheim told the press shortly after the auction, were the factors that prompted him to have this auction organised by our small specialised auction house instead of taking his business to one the big names in the field. We at Rippon Boswell feel justifiably proud of this distinction.