I called Kantos Kan's name aloud in each new corridor and compartment, and finally I was rewarded by hearing a faint response. Guided by the sound, we soon found him helpless in a dark recess.

He was overjoyed at seeing me, and to know the meaning of the fight, faint echoes of which had reached his prison cell. He told me that the air patrol had captured him before he reached the high tower of the palace, so that he had not even seen Sab Than.

We discovered that it would be futile to attempt to cut away the bars and chains which held him prisoner, so, at his suggestion I returned to search the bodies on the floor above for keys to open the padlocks of his cell and of his chains.

I called Kantos Kan's name aloud in each new corridor and compartment, and finally I was rewarded by hearing a faint response. Guided by the sound, we soon found him helpless in a dark recess.

He was overjoyed at seeing me, and to know the meaning of the fight, faint echoes of which had reached his prison cell. He told me that the air patrol had captured him before he reached the high tower of the palace, so that he had not even seen Sab Than.

We discovered that it would be futile to attempt to cut away the bars and chains which held him prisoner, so, at his suggestion I returned to search the bodies on the floor above for keys to open the padlocks of his cell and of his chains.

THREADS OF HISTORY

THE COLORFUL PATTERNS OF ANTIQUE ORIENTAL RUGS TELL TALES THAT TODAY'S ENTHUSIASTS DECODE.

In 1932, a New York engineer, Arthur Arwine, artfully recreated the plush atmosphere of a Turkmen yurt in his Sheridan Square apartment by draping colorful carpets on his walls, his furniture and, of course, his floors. This urban hideaway became the meetinghouse for Arwine and a few friends– Anton Lau, a fellow engineer; friends in the film industry, Roy Winton and Arthur Gale; and a scholar and dealer, Arthur Dilley–to discuss all aspects of their common obsession, oriental rugs. The group, who dubbed themselves the Hajji Baba club, after the hero of an early 19th-century English novel about Persia, quickly attracted more members who shared their enthusiasm for collecting in a field that had been quietly gaining steam in Europe and America since the mid-19th century. Today the club, as president emeritus Kurt Munkacsi reports, boasts around 200 international members–a number indicative of the passionate yet exclusive crowd one might find oneself among when endeavoring to amass a cache of fine-art-level carpets.

The current market for oriental rugs can be broken down neatly into two parts: decorative and collectible. The former is larger and caters to those who buy rugs, essentially, to cover the floors in their homes. "For those using rugs simply to decorate there are certain trends that go in and out of style–like fashion. Often color has a big part in this," says Sumru Belger Krody, Head curator of the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. In this category, aesthetics are the main draw, and though buyers might spring for a very fine carpet, it is look, color, or size that drive them to choose one piece over another.

The collectible market is smaller in size but greater in enthusiasm. It is sustained by those who collect rugs for various reasons– perhaps on the basis of region, time period, tribe or the like–but with the intent to acquire and display their rugs as pieces of art. Hadji Rahimipour, vice president of Bonhams' carpets and rugs department, explains that he judges fine-art quality carpets according to four features: origin, age, quality of workmanship and condition. "Carpets are not like paintings, which you can't touch or get too close to," he says. "Carpets go on the floor–that's the beauty of the old rugs."

On the other hand, this traditional placement of carpets–on the floor and underfoot– is to some a stigma that keeps the genre from ranking alongside other pieces of fine or decorative art. Peter Poullada, a San Francisco-based independent scholar and collector, says, "One reason these rugs are undervalued is that they are on the floor. The natural tendency is to think that they can't be that great if they are lying on the floor, even if a carpet is more valuable than the Georgian chest sitting on top of it. If you can get a rug off the floor and look at it and judge it on aesthetic grounds, then you've won a victory."

Poullada adds that the analogy between carpets and artworks breaks down somewhat because "we can't celebrate the artist." But for hard-core collectors, the anonymity of Middle Eastern weavers is no drawback but actually a large part of the interest. What makes each rug one of a kind is the cultural context in which it was created, and this context has a large bearing on style, colors and, consequently, collectibility. The most sought after rugs in today's collector market are tribal rugs– those woven by nomadic peoples in Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere– and these are the most geometrical and abstract in their designs.

Jan David Winitz, president of the Claremont Rug Company in Oakland, Calif., describes tribal rugs as "pieces of true folk art." Beautiful as they are, their geometric patterns were not created solely for aesthetic purposes, but recall a symbolic language that was used among tribes. Munkacsi says, "Once you get into the textiles and rugs you get completely wrapped up in the history of Asia. I like the Turkmen geometric rugs; the different patterns are totems of different tribes, and when one tribe took over another the totems change slightly." The designs and knots of these tribal rugs are so distinctive, says Rahimipour, that "sometimes we'll turn a rug over and see a different type of knot beings used–we eventually realized that someone from another tribe must have been visiting. There was no other way to explain it."

Village rugs, according to Winitz, are more of a "cottage industry" whose manufacture was "an event" for an entire village. The men raised and herded sheep, while the women hand-dyed the wool using allnatural dyes and wove the carpets on giant looms. Elisabeth Parker, the head of Christie's rugs and carpets department, describes the production of these textiles as a "women's industry." She explains, "The men of the villages would sit around watching the sheep and smoking their pipes, while the women would be dying and weaving. The women would often sit in rows, and go down the line vertically, while a man would tell them what color to weave or not weave–like a little chant or poem." This process could take up to five years for a team of 10 weavers, depending on the scale of the project.

Finally, court or city rugs, which were made in workshops in the great cities of Iran and the Ottoman Empire, are the antithesis of their tribal counterparts, exhibiting perfect symmetry and an extreme standardization in their weave. They were manufactured in workshops according to patterns made by professional designers, on commission to patrons or even royalty. The oldest surviving city rugs date back to the 15th or 16th centuries, but examples that old are extremely scarce.

In general, whether their interest is tribal or city, collectors tend to focus on 19th century rugs. In order for a rug to be considered "art-level," it must have been woven before the advent of the so-called commercial period in the early 20th century. The industrialization of the Middle Eastern textile market interfered too greatly with the manufacture and selling of oriental rugs for them to be seen any longer as purely artisanal works. The introduction of artificial chemical dyes was the death knell of the traditional rug manufacturing process. "The world of people who are serious about rugs discount the ones made after 1900, because that's when they stopped using natural dyes," says Poullada. These natural dyes–created from shellfish to make Tyrian purple or aubergine, or certain insects to achieve a rich red known as cochineal– age better, as well, with the dark colors often becoming richer with age, and the light colors softening.

Many collectors focus on specific tribes or regions as a matter of personal taste, but certain types of carpets have maintained their popularity over the years. Rugs from the 85 distinct tribes of the Caucusus, the crossroads between the Black and Caspian seas, are prized among collectors for their variety, bold geometric patterns and bright colors. Winitz recalls a collector who embarked on a still-unfulfilled quest to acquire a rug from each of the 85 regions. "These rugs have quite a kinship with modern art–Klee and Kandinsky for example,were inspired by Caucasian rugs. People who gravitate toward Renaissance works or Old Master paintings, I find, are more attracted to the rugs of Laver Kirman."

The court or city rugs of Laver Kirman in southwest Iran are known for their languid lines, rich colors and large proportions– sometimes pushing 15 by 25 feet.

It was a 17th century Laver Kirman that set the record at Christie's New York last spring for the top-selling rug at auction, attaining a whopping $9.6 million. Poullada acknowledges the desirability of such a piece, saying, "We'd all like to own 17th-century Persian carpets, but only a museum in Qatar could afford it!" Rahimipour notes that the age and origin of that particular rug certainly played a part in its price, and generally these court rugs command higher numbers, but it's often hard to tell which rugs will bring in the big bucks. "Every sale blows me away," says Rahimipour. "Sometimes I think certain carpets are ugly and they sell for a lot of money, or I think a carpet is beautiful and it doesn't sell for what I thought it would. But that's the beauty of auction." Collectors are often attracted to smaller, area-size rugs (3 by 4 to 6 by 9 feet), not only because of the lower price, but also because, as Winitz explains, "they're more fun to play with." Small prayer rugs are also increasing in popularity. "These rugs," says Parker, "would have been rolled out five times a day. I saw one recently that really blew me away. It was from the Caucasus region, probably around the 1890s. It had an arch pointing towards Mecca and had rows of a paisley pattern." Other culturally significant tribal objects such as bags and trappings are becoming more coveted by collectors. Munkacsi, who along with the Hajji Baba club recently published a book, Timbuktu to Tibet, in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name, describes the tribes who manufactured these objects as "textilesaturated societies." He adds, "The yurts they lived in were collapsible, and everything they had could be put in a bag and strapped on a donkey. You can't move around a chest of drawers like that." These trappings also had the ceremonial aspects, says Munkacsi: "A young woman would spend years preparing her wedding items, and during the wedding ceremony she would be transported from her home to her husband's in a caravan. The trappings she made would decorate the sides of the camels in the caravan, and afterwards would hang in the couple's yurt. All these bags and trappings were like wampum– they could be brought into town and traded for things a family needed." Each oriental rug (or related item) is an ideal mix of aesthetic beauty, functionality and material culture. Krody notes, "We appreciate art for beauty but when we hear the history of a piece we learn how it has affected many lives. The dyes, the materials of rugs–a pretty red isn't just a pretty red, it really means something."

GRAND 19TH CENTURY ORIENTAL RUGS FIND A HOME IN 21ST CENTURY ART COLLECTIONS

When I founded Claremont Rug Company in 1980, a gallery that specialized exclusively in older Oriental rugs was not unusual. However, a company whose niche was art-level antique carpets was revolutionary.

When I founded Claremont Rug Company in 1980, a gallery that specialized exclusively in older Oriental rugs was not unusual. However, a company whose niche was art-level antique carpets was revolutionary. Except among a handful of collectors and scholars, rugs were then viewed as no more than luxurious home furnishings.

Now, in the wake of the April 2010 sale of a 17th century Kirman rug at Christie's auction for $9.59M (twice the previous world record set only last year), antique carpets are broadly acknowledged for their aesthetic achievement and their rarity. Historic carpets now regularly sell in seven figures and attention has turned to art-level 19th century rugs. These have the additional dividend that they can still be used on the floor. For the past three decades, I have guided a great number of clients in distinguishing the rare category of antique art rugs from the mass of older rugs still in existence. My business had previously been based in connoisseurship―searching out just the right rare, collectible piece―and what I didn't entirely foresee was that once clients learned to discern the artistic impact of carpets, some would become inspired to literally "put them everywhere." Thus, the era of the "Whole Home" project was born.

In 2008, we completed eight such ventures, each involving the placement of 15 to 40 rugs in a single residence usually over a period of months, but in some cases in a single appointment. In 2009, the number of these projects jumped to 25 and this year we are on pace to complete nearly 50. The number of clients who consider the best antique rugs to be equal to other forms of art appears to be reaching critical mass. Many of these projects include hanging particularly rare rugs on the wall as part of an art collection.

The residences in which we complete Whole Home projects are memorable environments, superbly constructed with the finest materials and a mature design sense. Whether the homes are traditional, contemporary or cutting-edge glass and steel, the great diversity of art-level carpets reflect consummate craftsmanship, aesthetic grace and harmony equal to that of the home itself.

A Whole Home project typically begins with clients formulating their vision of the environment they wish to create. Clients show us architectural drawings or photographs of their rooms and tell us about the other art that will be nearby. If they are still forming their ideas, we show them photos of other clients' homes and rug collections. We may start by determining which styles to focus on based on their comments about the ambiance they hope to create: elegant or casual, modern or traditional, rustic or high-style.

We then work to identify which styles of carpets reflect both their aesthetic interest and the aim of their design scheme. Then, either at our gallery or directly in their home, we show a series of appropriate carpets usually presenting three or four multiple-rug suites of compatible carpets, or demonstrating the impact of a suite of rugs versus that of a single, palacesize carpet.

Antique rugs effectively create a mood, and with so many geometric and floral styles, any atmosphere can be created. From the spare, graphic lines and clear colors of Serapis or Bakshaishs to the intricate, melodic pattern language and more muted hues of Laver Kirmans, the panoply of antique carpets offer a wealth of design directions. Throughout, we work to balance the decorative needs of clients' homes with their interest in building private collections of noteworthy pieces that will continue to grow in rarity.

Sometimes the architecture of a particular home leads us to suggest certain rug styles. One project required an oversized carpet in the main sitting area to enhance its majestic architecture and mountain views. The client selected an unforgettable Sultanabad village carpet. Its naturalistic mood and striking artistry distinguished this important area and established the ambiance for the rest of the carpets in this grand residence.

Clients with a developed eye for color are drawn to the broad tonal spectrum of the best antique rugs. Wool soaked in vegetal dye baths provides a kaleidoscope of hues and subtle layers of shading instead of the blocks of homogenous color that lesser rugs contain. Like the pigments in an Old Master painting, the colors of naturally dyed antique rugs soften and gain a magical patina with the passage of time.

The myriad primary and secondary hues of art carpets can enrich the subtle nuances of the most sophisticated color waves. For instance, the classic Tuscan palette often prompts us to introduce clients to Hadji Jallili Tabrizs and Laver Kirmans that feature earth and pastel tones.

A client who owned a company in the textile industry knew well how the colors in properly selected rugs enhance an environment. Recently, she decided to put fine carpets in every room of her Spanish style home. She started the project in her refined great room adorned with early French and Italian furniture and Old Master paintings, where we placed a suite of four Laver Kirmans, noted for their delicate colors and intricate designs. The rich patina of this suite of four connoisseur-level carpets quietly supported her paintings and created a sublime Old World ambiance.

Some commission us to create collections of rare rugs to take center stage in their decors. Clients living in a magnificent Mediterranean-inspired home wished to showcase investment-level Bakshaish and Serapi carpets. The early 19th century Bakshaish carpet that graces their living room is mesmerizing in concord with their antique American furniture and California Impressionist paintings. The use of 27 other collectible carpets throughout their home completed their unwavering aesthetic vision.

We assisted another seasoned collector in choosing 38 highly collectible tribal rugs for the floors and walls of an ultra-modern home with 20-foot windows. The strategic placement of so many exemplary pieces with angular, graphic designs upheld the minimalist aesthetic of his home, while contributing warmth and depth to the surroundings.

The Wall Street Journal devoted two full pages to rugs, declaring "some of the most coveted masterpieces now are the ones on the floor." (6-19-10)

Another couple built a majestically tooled Arts and Crafts-style home with an open-plan interior, partially because they wanted the enjoyment of viewing several rugs at once. As the compatibility among the rugs was central in their decision-making, we assembled a formidable inventory to explore directly in their home. They selected 23 pieces in a single-day session, including a six-carpet grouping for the public area.

I often have the privilege of working with serious art collectors who are quickly moved by the great visual impact that art-level carpets offer. They "get" rugs quickly, and are often taken aback by how perfectly they unify the various elements in a room and support their other collections.

I have had the privilege to put a highly refined Kerke Kashan beneath a Lichtenstein and a Richter, and a geometric Malayer Camelhair in a living room which had a Kandinsky over the mantle. I have also enjoyed furnishing rooms spotlighting Diebenkorns and Warhols, early Chinese porcelain, sepia photographs and worldclass furniture.

Many clients have little previous exposure to antique art rugs as, with any medium, the percentage of truly inspired works is minuscule compared to the total output that was created. They soon discover that larger carpets are enormous canvases that immerse them in the artwork, enveloping them just as a Renaissance fresco surrounds us. They find this unique intimacy with the myriad colors and designs to be enrapturing.

Antique art rugs as an established depository of wealth are particularly attractive in these times. Recently, The Wall Street Journal (June 18, 2010) devoted two full pages to rugs, declaring "some of the most coveted masterpieces now are the ones on the floor." Little over a decade after historic rugs broke the million-dollar mark, the world-record price is almost ten times that. The best 19th century carpets have also substantially increased in value, yet remain very modestly priced relative to other forms of art.

The primary allure for clients who build Whole Home collections, however, is that antique rugs of high artistic merit play an invaluable role in creating a home atmosphere that is deeply nourishing and inspiring. Multiplying this effect room-by-room creates an inviting sanctuary from the demands of hectic modern life.

***

Jan David Winitz, President and Founder of Claremont Rug Company in Oakland, CA, has built a global reputation among carpet collectors and connoisseurs since he founded the company at age 25 in 1980. Born into a New York family of art collectors and scientists, "Winitz inherited two things from his grandmother: a collection of great rugs and a love of art." (Financial Times). His stated vision was, "to introduce fine families to antique carpets possessing equal or greater artistic magnitude as works of art usually displayed on the wall." Claremont Rug Company continues to be a leading source of 19th century museum-level Oriental carpets in the world. The author of "The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug," Winitz has an international clientele for whom antiques are a great passion.

Art-Level Antique Rugs & How to Recognize Them

A wide range of Oriental carpets can bring us pleasure and pride of ownership as they grace our homes. Yet, only very few are also strong long-term investments worthy of collecting. With little exception, these are true antiques dating from the early 19th century to the turn of the 20th century. I term these pieces "art-level rugs." During this period, many of the best rugs were inspired artistic expressions of pastoral nomads living in isolated encampments of Persia, the Caucasus and Turkey. Using elemental portable looms, they continually reinterpreted ancestral designs passed down from mothers to their daughters for many generations.

Art-level rugs were also woven on the family looms of the cottage industry in the multitudinous villages of the Near East. In larger cities, patrons commissioned workshops to create their finest carpets, devoting as much as 15 years to a single project. Throughout the Near East, brides and grooms wove rugs to express to each other the deep affection for life that they could not formulate in words. In many cases, they would present them to one another on their wedding day. Parents wove rugs to pass on the rich symbolic heritage of their cultural group to their children. Spiritual teachers wove to communicate the deepest aspects of their teaching to their students.

Especially among the tribal people, the rugs were created not as art alone; they also served a variety of utilitarian purposes, such as cushions against the desert floor, covers for their loads and door screens for their yurts. Using techniques virtually unchanged since Biblical times, the finest weavers strove to complete every step as perfectly as possible. The myriad activities involved—raising the sheep, spinning and carding the wool, brewing the dyes from pure natural sources, hand-tying hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of knots—made carpet weaving one of the most labor-intensive of art forms.

But the weaving process that had existed in a virtually unaltered form since time immemorial was swiftly transformed as rugs began to be produced for export to Europe. By the 1920's and '30's, the pressure to satisfy the decorative requirements of the Western market prompted the creation of large workshops throughout the Near East. Timesaving measures were employed. The time-consuming natural dyes with their vast array of nuanced hues were replaced by easy-to-brew but harsh chemical dyes. This irrevocably compromised the level of craftsmanship, diluted the ancestral design pool and thwarted the artistic inspiration of the weavers. In little more than a generation, rug-making became an industry whose highest motivation was to produce decoratively pleasing floor coverings. Weaving was transformed from art into craft.

Antique & Vintage Sarouk

Above: Antique Persian Sarouk, 10ft 3in x 14ft 3in, late 19th century. Note that an entirely innovative design, extremely fine drawing of the motifs, purposeful, continually changing spacing of the motifs and subtle nuances of color. Signed by the noted workshop "Gazan" and inscribed for the patrons who commissioned it.

Above: Vintage Persian Sarouk, 10ft 2in x 13ft 3in, circa 1925, a first-quality carpet woven for export. Note the consistency of the pattern throughout the field and borders, the classical design of a series of bouquets and the more limited color palette.

So how do I recognize an art-level Oriental rug? Regardless of the region in which it was woven, it is a unique artistic expression with an enrapturing visual impact and consummate craftsmanship. The use of the finest quality materials is paramount. An art-level carpet offers a deeply harmonious palette of colors, stemming from the expert use of pure natural dyes, which gradually soften with age. The finest dye masters were accomplished chemists who created colors of great purity and tremendous visual depth.

The presence of an array of seldom-encountered tones is a sign of exemplary artistry. For instance, a lush range of green from celadon to emerald was brewed from lengthy process of over-dyeing indigo blue wool with a yellow dye, obtained from onionskins, turmeric or saffron. Creating stunning ruby reds from the kermes beetle or regal Tyrian purple from sea snails also required a highly skilled hand. The use of first-grade wool is also of central importance. This can be seen in the magical luminosity it lends to the pile and how it greatly enhances the saturation of the dyes. The best wool is elastic and replete with natural lanolin, which one can feel to the touch. It is literally an alive material that is incredibly durable.

Serapi & Heriz

Above: antique Persian Serapi, 3rd quarter, 19th century. In this exclusively naturally dyed carpet, note the tremendous amount of shading and many different hues of each color. Experience how each color is at once saturated and soft. As in the natural pigments used in Old Masters paintings, the colors have a glowing, translucent quality.

Above: semi-antique Heriz, circa 1950. Woven in the same locale as the Serapi eight decades later, using chemical dyes, its colors are rather harsh and entirely consistent, devoid of any nuance of hue.

Many art-level rugs are brilliant explorations into the traditional pattern language of their particular tribe or region. Others demonstrate great uniqueness and rarity in their design and color. In either case, the individual stamp of its makers is abundantly present. However, the most important attribute is also the most intangible. For a rug to be considered art-level, it must possess a level of beauty that is literally breathtaking, and must emanate a profound sense of balance and harmony. An art-level rug is an impressionistic work, inspired by the glory of the sunrise, the splendor of a field of wildflowers, the strength and dignity of a mountain or the unfathomable number of stars visible on a cloudless night. It expresses the sublime rather than the mundane, perfectly capturing a timeless moment frozen in time.

Kermanshah

Above: This extremely rare, mid-19th century, oversize Kermanshah carpet was part of a private collection for most of its life. It boasts a highly unique, vine-formed blossom medallion balanced by lush corner pieces. Inspired by the rhythm and grace experienced in the natural and celestial worlds, the great artist-weavers perfectly married color and design. Their profuse ornamentation and myriad color hues created a world overflowing with energy, yet always at peace and in unity.

A number of the early Modernists of Western art were captivated by great rugs. The Cubists, notably Klee and Kandinsky, studied the abstract forms of tribal rugs in search of a new non-representational aesthetic. Matisse was enthralled by the carpets' inventive use of color, as was Paul Gauguin who said, "Oh, you painters who ask for a technique of color—study carpets and there you will find all knowledge." Now, a new generation of collectors is discovering what these pioneers of modern art recognized long ago, that the knowledge of combining color and design in art-level rugs is as masterful as is in any painting or sculpture.

One of the great challenges for the budding enthusiast of art-level rugs is also one of their deepest lures: in most cases, masterful weavers never signed their works. An antique carpet is anonymous art. Great rugs are unaffected by pop culture trends or by the status of the artists or purchasers. An antique rug must be judged on its own merits, on the quality of its craftsmanship and the depth of the impact it has on the seasoned viewer.

For those wishing to discover art-level rugs, it is certainly helpful to peruse some of the literature available on Oriental rugs. Yet, what is most enriching is to educate one's eye. This can only be achieved by looking at as many actual rugs of varying levels of quality as possible. To view first-rate collectible rugs, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or The Textile Museum in Washington, DC. Then visit dealers that handle varying levels of quality. In the process, you may discover how some rugs warm your heart and enliven your mind in a profound, deeply penetrating manner. Ultimately, it is by this moving inner effect that you can recognize those antique carpets that are truly "art-level."

Jan David Winitz, President and Founder of Claremont Rug Company in Oakland, CA, has built a global reputation among carpet collectors and connoisseurs since he founded the company—at age 25—in 1980. Born into a New York family of art collectors and scientists, "Winitz inherited two things from his grandmother: a collection of great rugs and a love of art." (Financial Times). His stated vision was, "to introduce fine families to antique carpets possessing equal or greater artistic magnitude to works of art usually displayed on the wall." Claremont Rug Company continues to be a leading source of antique art-level Oriental carpets in the world. The author of "The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug," Winitz has a global clientele for whom antique rugs are a great passion.

An antique Persian rug or carpet, as with any valuable art object, needs periodic care to assure lasting beauty and value. By taking a few simple precautions, your older carpet, whether it's a 70-year-old vintage rug or an antique carpet at one hundred years old or more, can be preserved in good floor condition into the next generation.

Spills:

The finest older Persian carpets utilized lanolin-rich wool which has amazing stain repellent properties.

If a spill is dealt with immediately, often it can be easily blotted up before staining occurs. Use a moist, clean cloth to blot from the edges toward the center of the spill. If soap is needed, use hair shampoo, as the protein of wool is similar to human hair. Do not scrub, as this will embed the stain more deeply into the wool. Then elevate the damp area on a short stool or box for quick air drying. Avoid allowing your carpet to sit damp for an extended period of time, as this could possibly rot the cotton foundation.

We strongly advise against using home remedies for stain removal, as they can cause irreversible dye run and discoloration, and chemicals should never be used. If the above method is not effective, consult a professional oriental carpet cleaner for spot cleaning.

Potted plants should never be placed on top of the carpet, even with a water basin beneath the pot, as it is still possible for moisture that collects under even a leak-proof pot to infiltrate the carpet, causing considerable, irreversible mildew damage to the carpet's cotton foundation.

Red wine stains often can be safely lifted by first blotting up the liquid without rubbing using dry towels. Then make a solution of one quart water with 2-3 drops ONLY of mild unscented colorless detergent like Ivory Soap and 1-2 teaspoons of plain white vinegar (NOT apple cider vinegar). Rinse lightly with this solution. Now blot up again with dry towels. Then rinse with plain water, a little more if needed. Elevate the moist area of the rug and air dry with a fan for 24-48 hours, not just dry to touch, but so that the foundation as well as the pile is dry.

Rugs which have been flooded accidentally need to be attended to immediately. Smaller rugs can be taken outside and spread on a lawn or hung over a railing to dry in the sunlight. For larger rugs, a water vacuum can be used, followed by the use of space heaters or a hair dryer. Again, the carpet must be dry, back and front, so elevation is advised. Often, having the rug professionally washed and dried within several days is advisable. Please do not hesitate to call us for advice at 1-800-441-1332.

Cleaning:

The wool of the Persian carpet is lustrous, durable, and rich in natural lanolin. It is best to interfere as little as possible with this natural protection, so please avoid treatments such as moth-proofing, dry cleaning or steam cleaning. Instead, have most older carpets hand-washed or tumbled by a professional oriental carpet cleaner every five to six years, or sooner if needed. Tumbling in a large machine similar to a clothes dryer is a gentle process that removes dirt and dust particles which penetrate to the base of the pile of the rug and have an abrasive effect on the wool fibers. The tumbling process is recommended for older or less sturdy carpets, since it puts less strain on the structure of an antique carpet than submersion in water.

For carpets with lower pile, daily or weekly cleaning should be accomplished with a non-electric sweeper rather than a suction vacuum cleaner. Modern carpet sweepers work via static electricity and are very effective in cleaning the surface and into the pile of your rugs, as well as in bringing out the sheen of the wool. We have found the Hoky carpet sweeper to be the most effective. Electric vacuum cleaners should never be used on antique rugs. A vacuum cleaner with suction may be used only on heavy-pile vintage or younger rugs. Never use the beater brush on any handwoven rugs, as its rotary action is far too rough and can pull out knots and fray out the wrapped selvedge edges.

A broom with straw bristles is another option if a carpet sweeper is unavailable. With a carpet sweeper or broom, your rug can be cleaned as often as you wish. At least once a week is recommended.

Pads:

We strongly recommend use of a high-quality pad under your older carpet whether it is on a wood, stone or carpeted floor. A firm pad extends the life of a rug by cushioning it from below and preventing sliding, wrinkling, and stretching, as well as possible punctures from furniture legs. A padded rug is also more enjoyable underfoot and provides better sound absorption.

Sun Protection:

Although the dyes used in high quality, older carpets are usually quite impervious to extreme fading, precautions must be taken against prolonged daily exposure to strong, direct sunlight. If closing the draperies during the periods of strongest sunlight will interfere with the view or the lighting effect you wish to create in your room, we recommend screening your windows with a clear plastic film. With trade names such as V-Kool and 3-M Mylar, these products are quite effective in eliminating the damaging effect of ultraviolet rays with virtually no color distortion to your window glass. We advise rotating your rug 180 degrees either annually or bi-annually to equalize the naturally softening effect of sunlight and the gradual wear of foot traffic.

Moths:

An old English butler, when asked the best way to protect woolens against moths, replied, "regular fussing in the wardrobe." Our advice is similar: regular carpet sweeping is your best insurance against moth damage. Moths seldom are attracted to an oriental carpet which is clean and in use. It is important to include in your carpet sweeping agenda periodic cleaning underneath or behind furniture, since moths prefer low light and undisturbed areas. Carpets hung on the wall should definitely be taken down and shaken or vacuumed at least three times per year. Commercial moth-proofing formulas are not recommended.

The use of cedar chips or a cedar-lined trunk or closet is effective for short-term storage. Carpets that will be stored for a period of months should be professionally packed to prohibit moth and mildew damage.

Furniture:

For heavy furniture placed on your carpet, furniture cups are helpful in preventing the crushing of the carpet's pile. Furniture can also be regularly shifted a few inches back and forward, or from side to side to minimize point of contact wear. Avoid dragging heavy furniture across an antique, as it can snag or even tear the carpet.

At Claremont Rug Company, we have many years of experience in assisting our clients in selecting and maintaining antique and vintage oriental carpets for both home and office settings. Even antique carpets 150 years old or older can be lived on very successfully by families with children and animals, if the piece is of high quality materials and construction, and the care instructions outlined here are followed.

STORING A CARPET:

1. Professionally hand wash rug before storing. Moths are less attracted to clean rugs.
2. DO NOT wrap in PLASTIC. Wrapping a rug in plastic may create moisture condensation, which can cause mildew. Instead, roll the rug tube-style. In some cases, it is acceptable to vertically fold the rug, then wrap in Tyvek paper, which is moisture-resistant, acid-free and archival. If the rug is well-wrapped, we rarely see moth damage.
3. Use plenty of tape on the roll to make sure all seams are covered. One can put mothballs in a cloth, similar to a sachet, and put them in the areas where moths may enter: at the ends of the roll and along the center of the rug if it is folded.
4. The major problem comes from moisture. Try to elevate the rug from the floor rather than storing it on a concrete slab floor. Do not store in the attic because temperatures can be too high. Look for a stable temperature environment.
5. We do not recommend pesticide sprays because they are toxic and acidic and can be harmful to rugs. If you have a moth-concentrated environment, there are some sprays that can be used.
6. Guarding against rats and mice is hard because they can eat through the paper. The best advice it to store the rug in a clean environment. To ensure effectiveness, mothballs should be changed every 6 months as their strength dissipates over time.

"The finest antique carpets have been a form of international currency since Marco Polo introduced the first rugs he brought from "the Orient" to the Italian aristocracy at the end of the 13th century. Thus the term "oriental rugs" was adapted. There are connoisseur-level buyers seeking out the finest rugs in virtually every country of the world, so trading the best antique rugs is tantamount to trading fine paintings or other works of art."

"Regardless of the region in which they were made, investment-level rugs were created as entirely individual artistic expressions. Whether they were produced in city workshops, as part of the cottage industry of the smaller towns and villages or in isolated nomadic encampments, they represent the consummate achievement of only the most dexterous and sensitive weavers. They usually are virtuoso adaptations of the traditional designs, color palette and structure characteristic of that particular region."

"There are a few vital attributes that a carpet must have to be considered investment-level. It must utilize a harmonious palette of colors created from pure, natural dyes, exclusively. The materials must be of the finest quality. The wool must be lustrous, luminous and elastic, meaning it should be soft and feel like what it is -- an alive material. Uniqueness and rarity are both central. The individual stamp of the particular weaver or weavers should be abundantly present."

"The most important aspect is also the most intangible -- to be considered investment-level, a rug must possess a stirring magnitude of artistry, a level of beauty that is literally breathtaking. At the presence of a true art carpet, the viewer is silenced, in awe of something that emanates a profound level of balance and harmony."

"In most cases, I find that to be considered investment-level, the carpet should be a true antique, that is more than 100 years old. Frankly, only an extremely small percentage of the 100-200 year old antique Persian and tribal carpets that are available are what I specialize in. As a life-long investor, I have experienced that highly unique pieces I bought 20 to 30 years ago have increased in value many-fold. The extremely rare 17th and 18th century pieces in my own private collection have literally skyrocketed. As the demand for the best 19th-century antiques continues to escalate and their already very limited availability dwindles further, the next decade should be infinitely more exciting than even the past 30 years have been."

We have developed this guide to give you useful background information on the major styles of antique and vintage Oriental rugs we handle. The rug names refer to either a specific local or tribal group. Please select from the links below to learn more about that particular type. To see panoply of examples in each rug category, please refer to The Gallery and use the "Rug Type" search feature.

For more information feel free to email us at sales@claremontrug.com or call us at 800-441-1332 (int'l: +1-510-654-0816).

Afshar rugs

Agra and Amritsar rugs

Bakhtiari rugs

Bakshaish rugs

Bijar rugs

Camelhair rugs

Caucasian rugs

Caucasian rugs: Basic facts

Caucasian rug symbology

Dorasht rugs

Ferahan & Ferahan Sarouk rugs

Hadji Jallili Tabriz rugs

Heriz rugs

Isfahan rugs

Kashan rugs

Kurdish rugs

Laver Kirman and Kermanshah rugs

Mahajiran Sarouk rugs

Mahal rugs

Malayer rugs

Meshed rugs

Motasham Kashan rugs

Qashqai rugs

Serapi rugs

Sultanabad rugs

Tabriz rugs

Some of the most coveted masterpieces now are the ones on the floor. The race for the world’s top rug collection.

By Kelly Crow

A leaf-patterned blue rug from the courtly heyday of 17th-century Iran sold at Christie’s this spring for $9.6 million, 20 times its asking price–and the highest price ever paid for a rug. Several months earlier, Sotheby’s sold a rug from the late 1500s for $4.3 million, the going rate for a top sculpture by Alexander Calder.

Oriental rugs, once the obsession of Ottoman sultans, European nobles and American robber barons, rarely topped $2 million a decade ago. Now, these centuries-old carpets from Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus are commanding sums more often reserved for masterpiece paintings than floor coverings.

A patchwork of global collectors and institutions are fueling the rise. New museums across the Middle East and Europe are driving up prices as they build collections of Islamic art. Contemporary-art buyers from Singapore to the Silicon Valley are rolling out antique rugs to complement the abstract, geometric art works that hang on their walls. And everyone is on the lookout for the next little-noticed niche of the market that could see a spike in value.

As the global art market recovers, collectors are once again scouring the marketplace for new areas to exploit. Pastoral landscapes and gilded table clock–antiques that once would have been too stuffy for high-spending art collectors–have emerged as some of the market’s newest favorites. Buyers who bid up trendy contemporary art works during the boom only to see them plummet in value during the recession are seeking out more obscure pieces whose values could rise with an overall market upswing.

Rugs are typically classified by the circumstances in which they were made–hand-woven by tribal nomads, crafted in a village or city, or woven on looms in a royal workshop–and prices tend to rise along the same lines, according to Jon Thompson, a British rug scholar. Those woven by tribes or in villages are on the lower end of the scale, commanding prices anywhere from $2,500 to $300,000. Persian court rugs made in royal workshops during the 15th and 16th centuries and featuring pastel, botanical designs, are particularly popular with collectors of Impressionist art, and their prices hav3e been soaring into the millions.

The wealthy have collected Oriental rugs for centuries. Henry VIII owned several hundred Turkish rugs. Hans Holbein, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Sigmund Freud, who kept a rug draped over the couch where he conducted his psychoanalytic sessions, were Persian-rug aficionados.

These days, top antique rugs are sold more like works of art than pieces of décor. Some high-end rug dealers even eschew the retail system of pricing by the square foot, because their collectors will pay higher prices for small prayer rugs and rare rug fragments than for palatial floor coverings. In recent months, sales have been slower for pieces that are frayed or of mediocre quality, but values have climbed sharply for the best surviving examples, according to appraisers and auction records.

Many buyers of modern art like television producer Douglas Cramer, a founder of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, are turning to tribal rugs speckled with jewel-toned, geometric shapes. Chicago real-estate developer Ron Benach, who owns pieces by Willem de Kooning and Gerard Richter, is also a rug collector.

Jon Schreiber, a 56-year-old medical-equipment investor from Oakland, Calif., is on a quest to amass the world's best collection of antique tribal rugs. For the past three decades, he's been tracking down rugs woven two centuries ago by the 85 nomadic groups listed in a 1981 landmark study of weavers from the Caucasus, a craggy region between the Black and Caspian seas. So far, Mr. Schreiber has paid up to $225,000 apiece for 84 museum-quality varieties that represent each of the region's tribes or rug styles. His hunt for the lone holdout–a rug representing the 85th style called the Pinwheel Kazak–is intensifying.

Curators at Washington's Textile Museum say few rug collectors have ever come close to achieving Mr. Schreiber's goal of finding a top example representing every Caucasian rug in the canon, so to speak. The museum's founder, George Hewitt Myers, spent much of the early 1900s collecting Caucasian rugs and found fewer than 85 types, says curator Sumru Belger Krody. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has gathered 48 varieties from the region and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has around 20 Caucasian rugs.

Word of Mr. Schreiber's quest has already spread to a few of the country's rug cognoscenti. Mark Hopkins, a collector in Lincoln, Mass., praises Mr. Schreiber for focusing on a worthy niche but criticizes his comprehensive focus as "stamp collecting"–an approach that's based on numerical obsession as much as artistic appreciation. Kurt Munkacsi, past president of New York's Hajji Baba Club, says he tried to amass a similar set of Turkmen tribal rugs years ago before deciding the task was "impossible."

"In this world, there are lumpers and splitters–people who are fine with finding important overall pieces and people who try to identify every subgroup imaginable, like they're botanists looking for new plant species," Mr. Munkacsi said. "I'm a lumper. Mr. Schreiber is a splitter."

Mr. Schreiber, in turn, says some collectors give up too soon, but he's "willing to compete for what I want."

A lanky man with shaggy gray hair, Mr. Schreiber pays little attention to the volatile swings of the contemporary art market. Instead, he has learned to navigate an eclectic subculture where brand names are valued less than silky wool or rare natural dyes. Rug collectors often meet in groups like the Hajji Baba Club in New York, but Mr. Schreiber has mostly shopped solo, relying on a network of global buyers to scour and trade for pieces on his wish list. So far, he's spent at least $2 million on his pursuit of Caucasian rugs.

When his dealer, Jan David Winitz, President of Claremont Rug Company, stopped by for a visit earlier this month, the two men padded around Mr. Schreiber's unassuming three-bedroom home in stocking feet because nearly every inch of every room was covered in rugs made before the Civil War. A rug estimated at $18,000 lay on the bedroom floor of Mr. Schreiber's 13-year-old son. Others hung on the walls like tapestry, their colorful patterns depicting everything from peacocks to pixel-like symbols reminiscent of hieroglyphics and Atari video games.

Mr. Winitz joked about the paucity of furniture in the living room, but Mr. Schreiber just shrugged: "I like to roll out different pieces all the time, and furniture gets in the way."

Like Scottish tartans or Navajo blankets, antique rugs offer clues about the lives and folklore of ancient peoples Archaeologists in 1949 discovered a carpet in a frozen Siberian tomb that dated to the 4th or 5th centuries B.C. A culture of weavers eventually stretched from Indonesia to Istanbul. Most weavers were women who could spend months or years creating a single piece for their families or the marketplace. Ottoman rulers built elaborate rug workshops as well, with workers who created purple and pink dyes by pulverizing sea snails and cochineal insects, respectively.

Aristocratic collectors have long acquired the rugs created in Persian-rug workshops, but Caucasian rugs made by tribal groups have steadily gained favor with collectors since the 1960s, particularly in America, Italy and Germany. The most coveted Caucasian rugs were hand-woven during the 18th and 19th centuries by the dozens of nomadic shepherd families who once dominated the steppes and mountains of modernday Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Their signature dye colors are germanium red and indigo blue, and their designs are peppered with good-luck symbols and playful images of chickens, carnations, and diagonal stripes. Some imagery is sacred, including a fan-like whirling orb that stands for the wheel of life.

In July 2007, an anonymous collector paid Philadelphia auction house Freeman's $341,625 for a 5-foot-wide Caucasian rug called an Eagle Kazak. It was only priced to sell for up to $25,000.

Collectors often shy from Caucasian rugs woven after 1900 because assimilation and the Soviet conquest of the region took a toll on the quality of nomadic life and their rugs' craftsmanship, said William Robinson, head of Christie's rug department.

Growing up in New York, Mr. Schreiber was enthralled by the images and colors that popped from the six Caucasian rugs his grandmother brought with her from the family's homeland in Germany. While studying medicine in college in Jerusalem, he befriended a curator at the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art and became equally smitten with Persian and Turkish rug motifs. By the time he settled outside the hills of San Francisco in 1977, a bohemian aesthetic was popular and he began to buy antique rugs of all styles and designations, from Bidjar to Laver.

He didn't hit upon the idea of acquiring a complete Caucasian roster until the early 1990s when he realized he already had 25 varieties of Kazaks, Kubas, and Shirvan Bakus. Mr. Winitz offered to draw up a checklist and offer him any "blanks" he came across over time.

Mr. Winitz initially considered the idea an intellectual (and commercial) lark, but the hunting got harder eight years ago once Mr. Schreiber crossed the 60-number mark, he said. Some Caucasian groups like the Karabagh near the southern border of modern day Iran sold rugs to outsiders by the dozen, but only one town in the Shirvan district ever made rugs featuring fan-tailed birds, called Akstafas, by which their rarer rugs are now known.

Mr. Winitz turned to his network of buyers in Milan, Munich and Istanbul. After three years of diplomatic cajoling, he got a Chicago collector to trade a 17th century Turkish fragment for No. 82, a rug known as the Cloudband Kazak.

No. 83, a creamy Marasali Shirvan dotted with shapes that look like seed pods, came from Mr. Winitz's own collection, and No. 84, a Star Kazak, arrived three years ago when a South African collector decided to trade it for a Turkish rug fragment he offered him, Mr. Winitiz said. Since then, no hits.

Mr. Schreiber still needs the Pinwheel Kazak, a rug distinguished by a central swirling four-pointed star shape. The Kazaks who once lived near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi popularized the Pinwheel style in the 1800s, according to Ian Bennett's book "Oriental Rugs," the 1981 study that's served as Mr. Schreiber's collecting framework.

Mr. Winitz says he knows of only six "great ones" in private hands–two in Germany, two in Italy and two in America. He says the two American owners won't budge–his buyers have asked–so he's brainstorming ways to win over the Europeans. It's futile to trek into the mountain regions and scour for it directly, he says, because the Kazaks who are still there sold off their best antiques right after the Cold War and no longer do much weaving.

Mr. Schreiber says he's imagined the euphoria he will feel upon completing his Caucasian set. He might exhibit them; he might not. His children enjoy his collection, but he's not sure they'll keep the set intact over the long term.

In the meantime, he's adopted a coping mechanism that all hard-core collectors seem to share: a distraction collection. "Runners," he said, pointing the swelling pile of narrow rugs splayed down his hallway. "I'm collecting them like mad right now."

The collecting of rugs as works of art is experiencing a renaissance By Sonia Purcell

RUGS – Henry VIII not only collected wives during his reign as king of England. He also had a keen eye for rugs, vying with his chief adviser, the wily Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, to amass the most fabulous collection. That urge to gather rugs – as works of art rather than mere floor coverings – is now enjoying a renaissance. They can look wonderful in both modern and traditional homes and the emphasis is on quality: Jan David Winitz of the California-based Claremont Rug Company has taken on staff throughout the recession as the wealthy have started to invest more in art-level pieces from the 19th-century.

Some clients have been buying up to 50 rugs for their homes at a time – mostly for the floors but a few particularly delicate ones for use as wall hangings. With more than 20 different types of Persian rugs alone, there can be different styles in every room. Some parents even create the whole décor for children’s rooms inspired by a rug. “For an oceanfront house in California we found a beautiful rug for the daughter’s room that was evocative of a field of wild flowers and was very celestial and graceful. The son’s room had one with deeper colours and geometric medallions, “ Winitz says.

A number of the company’s clients constantly top up or swap pieces in a never-ending search for the best possible collection. Some are interested only in museum-quality examples, the highest standard available. Despite prices starting at about $20,000 and rising to $500,000, Winitz maintains that rugs are still undervalued compared with other works of art or antiques – although the best are at least maintaining their values. The quality shows through in different ways, he says: “The level of beauty, the level of harmony and grace, the uniqueness of design and the unusually wide range of colour overall, the rug should sparkle like a old master painting. With the natural dyes and the patina of time, the rug assumes a depth and glow as if you are looking into the color not at it.” Winitz advises buyers to look for nuances in the shades and ebbs and flows of tone that are the result of natural dyes.

He asserts that the best examples are Persian, Caucasian, or Turkish but points out that there are many different styles even from these areas. Antique Laver Kirman rugs, for instance, often feature flowers and delicate colors. “They look wonderful in bedrooms or throughout the home, evoking what lies outside”, says Winitz. Caucasian rugs, by contrast, can have a more contemporary appeal, featuring more geometric designs with symbols such as the eight-pointed star of wisdom, the wheel of life or the zig-zag depicting running water or mountains.

“An intense business client said he had looked at one of his rugs after a very hard day and had found it comforting in a time of trouble”, says Winitz. “They are so much more than just a way of covering the floor.”

Investors turn into collectors as art-grade rugs become the hot new tangible asset.

The 17th century Persian prayer rug was rare and beautiful. But since it measured a petite 5 feet 4 inches by 3 feet 7 inches, Mary Jo Otsea, senior vice president and worldwide director of Sotheby's carpet department, gave it a relatively low pre-auction estimate of £80,000 to £120,000. "The last rug of this type that sold was in 2005 at Christie's in London," Otsea says. "It had the same estimate, then sold for £250,000. But the markets are more dicey today."

So when the gavel came down at Sotheby's in London in October, Otsea was stunned by the final price: £2.7 million (about $4.33 million)-more than 20 times the estimate. "A buzz built just before the sale that it might go as high as £1million, but I didn't expect the result we got," she remembers. "It was thrilling."

The sale was an example of the growing value of art-grade rugs: one-of-a-kind, antique carpets typically from Persia, the Caucasus and Turkey. Investors are building cedar-lined "rug cellars" in their homes to house collections, hanging the pieces on their walls as fine art and turning to dealers like Jan David Winitz, founder of Claremont Rug Co. in Oakland, Calif., to care take their growing inventories.

"We have a lot of new buyers who have decided to put rugs throughout their homes and they come to us to purchase 15 to 50 art-grade pieces at a time," says Winitz, who had 25 such projects last year. In 2008, he had eight.

Burned by the crisis and fearful of inflation, many investors are turning to tangible assets, whose value tends to fluctuate less than paper assets. "The world has been dominated by hugely complex derivatives, structured notes- difficult stuff," says Bernard Duffy, managing director of the new London based advisory boutique Emotional Assets Management and Research (EAMR). "With tangible assets, what you see is what you get."

Count art-grade rugs in that category. Plus, they're a pleasure to own. "There's a huge emotional, almost physical yield an investor gets from these kinds of things," says Duffy, whose firm launched a fund in November that covers carpets and 14 other art and collectible categories including vintage watches, ancient coins and photography. Sixty percent of the assets are in a fund of funds structure created by EAMR; the remaining 40 percent go directly into the items themselves until there is a strong exit opportunity. The EAMR fund marks the first time investors have been exposed to a range of "emotional assets" via a single vehicle.

"People just want to enjoy their investments and have some confidence they will increase in value over time - rugs will do that."

For Winitz, the growing financial opportunities for investing in art-grade rugs make perfect sense. "People aren't sure where to put their money anymore," he says. "They just want to enjoy their investments and have some confidence they will increase in value over time-rugs will do that."

Not all rugs, however. Whatever their age the carpets must be rare and artful. The wool should be the highest grade, the dyes natural and the weaving done with hand-tied knots. Winitz recommends that collectors educate themselves through museum classes and by talking to other collectors.

Jan David Winitz (inset) urges collectors to buy only those carpets they fall in love with, as he did with the 8' x 12' Bakshaish rug woven around 1800 that hangs behind his desk. He bought it for $3,500, and isn't contemplating selling it - even though it would likely bring a minimum of $600,000.

For more information, contact Jan David Winitz at Claremont Rug Co., 800.441.1332 or claremontrug.com; Bernard Duffy at Emotional Assets Management and Research, 44.20.7936.9191 or emotionalassets.com; or Sotheby's at sothebys.com.

Like many of his clients, Jan David Winitz, founder and president of Northern California’s Claremont Rug Company (510.654.0816, www.claremontrug.com) caught the rug bug when he learned to appreciate the aesthetics of this ancient craft. "Not only are Oriental rugs equal in complexity and cultural significance to any other major art form, they were made without pretense and are entirely reflective of the people who made them," he says. Although prices of art-level rugs and carpets have skyrocketed over the past several decades, market values—currently ranging from the low five figures to the low six figures for most pieces—have room to grow, he says.

Last October, Winitz bought about 200 village and tribal rugs and Persian Court carpets from important collections in Boston, London, and Charlottesville, Va. In December he acquired more village and tribal rugs from the London collector’s home in Tuscany and a collection her late husband had in storage.

Winitz also obtained a Hudson River Valley collection last spring that included a $125,000 19th-century Persian Kermanshah carpet. "The Kermanshah is noteworthy because of its extraordinarily finely articulated design, its consummate craftsmanship, and its rare golden-ocher field, which provides a base for its majestic sunburst medallion," he says, noting also its superb condition.

— Andrew Myers

ANTIQUE CARPETS FLYING HIGH AS INVESTMENT VEHICLES IN DOWN ECONOMY

The artisan weavers who crafted the Persian rug on which Jan David Winitz stands tied the first knots on the oversize piece before Abraham Lincoln even became a congressman.

Winitz expects the Kermanshah carpet, which probably took about seven years to complete, to sell for roughly $700,000.

Working out of an unassuming storefront on Claremont Avenue in Oakland, Winitz, with his Claremont Rug Co., has become one of the world's leading purveyors of antique, art-level Oriental rugs, most from the 19th century.

His active clients include more than 40 people from Forbes' list of the world's richest billionaires, two Nobel Prize winners, rock stars, Hollywood types, and Silicon Valley executives.

Over the past few years, as the economy has sputtered, he has seen a marked increase in customers who make their living in finance – investment bankers, fund managers, and venture capitalists.

"They, in particular, see the rugs as a compelling arena for diversification, as precious tangible assets become a more central investment option," says Winitz, 55, who founded the company in 1980 with his wife, Christine, and a silent partner.

While the value of such assets is difficult to track because they are often unique and usually sold privately, art market indexes suggest that when stocks are down, prices of things like antique carpets, old coins, art and other collectibles commonly go up.

For three years ending Oct. 31, 2010 (the most recent data available), an index by Art Market Research that monitors such items was up 2 percent while the total return on the Dow Jones industrial average was negative 12.85 percent.

Last year was also record-setting for the textiles: In April, a 17th century Kirman rug sold at Christie's for $9.6 million, walloping the previous record set a few months earlier of $4.3 million for a Persian prayer rug auctioned at Sotheby's. "There has been a tremendous turn toward collecting rugs in the last three years. What has happened in the last three years, I couldn't have fathomed," he said. "Many, many people are buying rugs to part on the walls as art rather than to put them under foot."

Some of Winitz's clients have built cedar rug cellars, complete with bar, piped-in music and racks along the wall displaying their excess inventory. "That's their private space where they'll go down just to look at the rugs," he said.

Increasingly, his customers fly him, his team, and dozens of rugs to their homes – in places like the West Indies, Aspen and Martha's Vineyard – to outfit them with as many as 70 19th-century carpets, ranging in price from $20,000 to $500,000.

In 2005 when Winitz began offering this service, called the Whole Home Project, he had three clients. Last year, there were 51, and with 2011 just weeks old, six more customers have signed up.

To meet increased demand, Winitz last year added five buyers to a team of 22, hired a second full-time librarian and increased his staff of restoration workers from 48 to 55.

There's also been an explosion in Internet-related sales. In 2010, he said, rugs selected by clients browsing the company's online gallery accounted for 55 percent of sales, up from 7 percent in 2005. "This has brought us projects as far afield as New Zealand, Sweden, the West Indies and Singapore, as well as a new phenomenon – new, highly educated long-distance clients who are buying rugs sight unseen," he said. "I have always called rugs undiscovered art," said Winitz, a former English teacher. "For me, to be able to help people discover this art form and the magic of it is incredibly fulfilling."

One such customer who values the beauty of these antique carpets over their resale value is Warren Winiarski, whose Stag's Leap Wine Cellars made the Cabernet that bested French Bordeaux at the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting. "I love these carpets for their beauty," he said, which complements the view from his hillside home overlooking a vineyard. "The interior of the house gains in its ability to comfort us and enhance our lives by the fact that we're looking at beautiful things on the floors," said Winiarski, who bought his first antique Oriental rug from Winitz about 25 years ago and now owns six that cover his cherry wood floors.

Visitors to his Napa Valley home are greeted by a Hadji Jallili Tabriz carpet from the late 1800s decorated with climbing vines and vessels that reflect his livelihood.

Winitz got hooked on rugs as a boy in Brooklyn Heights. His grandmother, who fell in love with the carpets on a tour of the Near East, was a major collector and passed on her knowledge to her grandson.

He jokes that the predilection skipped a generation – his father was Milton Winitz, a prominent biochemist known for inventing a synthetic, cold liquid diet that held promise for astronauts, and for which Winitz and his older brother served as test subjects.

By the time Winitz was in his teens, his family had moved to Palo Alto. "I bought my first rug when I was in high school," he said. "There was a rug under a chest in an antique store; it was from the Caucasus Mountains. It was $250, I think. I bought it in part because I knew it was a very good rug – and I had a girlfriend at the time who was interested in art and I kind of wanted to impress her."

Winitz still has the 3-by-5 rug at home, but the girlfriend is long gone.

He married Christine Hunt, a fellow collector, in 1980, the year they opened the store. "When I was teaching school, I would occasionally sell rugs privately to supplement my non-income. Christine was one of my best clients," he said. "We have a standing joke that I married her to get all my rugs back, and she married me so she wouldn't have to keep paying for them."

As fate would have it, tech was booming in their first few years of business. "Major players in Silicon Valley would just walk in the door," he said of the shop, which at the time had an inventory of about 40 rugs. That has grown to 3,500.

That's not counting the couple's Berkeley home. "We have about probably 50 rugs on display at any given time," he said. "We continue to change them. They're underfoot, on the walls, on tables, draped on furniture." "We even have special rugs we use as lap blankets in the winter."