S. Wennek... demolishing myths |
The technique or the knot count in carpets seem to serve as the least important criteria to buyers, says S. Wennek, an expert on carpets who has wielded the hammer in more than 2,000 carpet auctions.
In the UAE to participate in today's auction of antique and contemporary Persian and Eastern carpets from the Stettler gallery in Switzerland, Wennek demolishes this popular misconception in the carpet world by quoting from a study conducted by his company. Earlier, carpet merchandisers led people to believe that the technique of making a carpet is the most crucial for buyers. So the more finely knotted the carpet, the better the piece.
"That is not true. Our research showed that people are more motivated by emotions and buy carpets on the basis of colour first. They use their intellect and go for the design next, and stirred by their senses feel the texture. Finally they study the technique. This is the true order of appreciation," reveals Wennek.
| Sixty-six carpets will be auctioned at the Hotel Inter-Continental Abu Dhabi this evening. |
Wennek, having been in the carpet business for nearly 40 years, advises buyers mostly to rely on their first instinct and possess a courage of conviction. You should always follow your first instinct and buy what is ultimately pleasant to your eye, recommends the chairman of the Switzerland-based international consultants and auctioneers of rare antique Oriental carpets, the Rippon Boswell International.
However, the subject at his illustrated lecture at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation two days before the auction was on "Understanding the art wealth of the knot".
Here Wennek unravelled the mysteries of the art and craft of the knot, starting off explaining the basics about the knot being "the embellishments" to the warp running all along the length of a Persian rug.
There are two kinds of knots - the senneh or the asymmetrical Persian knot, and the Turkish or symmetrical knot, he said. It was a misunderstanding over the knot created by commercial interests which had prompted his company to conduct research on this subject.
Four streams or origins of the knot were uncovered in their research - the Persian or the Achaemenian comprising the earliest Iranians such as Cyrus the Great, the Ottoman second, the Mughal stream patronised by Babar and Shah Jehan as the third, and finally, the Central Asian stream was identified as the fourth strand.
Besides the four streams, Wennek claims the company also sourced seven levels of carpets - the seventh level being of the highest order costing anything from £2 million to £30 million and found just in museums. Level one, made of handmade carpets, turns out to be basic merchandise sourced in places such as China, Pakistan and India, he points out.
At the auction to be held at the Hotel Inter-Continental Abu Dhabi this evening, there will be carpets from level five such as the precious silk and metal thread brocading from the famous Kum Kapi school of Istanbul master weavers.
The 66 carpets on display at the auction will include silk and wool pieces from the early and late Pahlavi period, Qajar silk, and rare, inscribed Qajar silk carpets.
One of the important pieces to go under the hammer will be the Mohtaschem kork wool and silk carpet from Kashan in Central Persia. This piece measuring about 27 feet by 16 feet is unique because it features animal form designs, while another is a silk carpet belonging to the last Shah of Iran.
Most of these displays selected over a period of 70 years belong to the Treasury collection of Dr R. Stettler, who has a doctorate on Persian carpets. With the retirement of the doctor and the closure of his gallery, his beloved pieces on which he has penned many books will be sold before an invited audience in Abu Dhabi.
