Salmiya

  According to his Anatolian kilim opus (p. 8), Cassin had found this gorgeous yellow ground rug fragment in 1981 when traveling on his own in Anatolia. He had left his German travel companion from Nuremberg in Istanbul as, according to Jack, the guy wasn't able to behave properly. The purpose of the trip was twofold: to find one or two collectibles in Turkey and "to do some first-hand research into early archetype rugs and kelim." As to the former, he only found one rug worth to take home (the above) but no kilim. Note that Jack always emphasized that the small collection of archetype kilims from Anatolia was already in his possession before he went to Turkey. At least seven of these kilims are currently at auction in Philadelphia (see my previous post ). The fragment is what he calls the "King of the yellow rug group". As far as we know, Cassin kept this rug for almost forty years and never even considered it for sale. I am quite sure that he did not s...

According to the American dealer who collaborated with a gallery in Stuttgart, Germany: “Low pile, missing parts of perimeter, and a few spots of crinkle damage/wear. Asymmetric knot open to the right. Wool, camel, goat, & cotton (1 ply in wefts). Fairly wide range of color for an Ertman chuval including 2 greens and a yellow. Bold, macho, elem and vertical aspect of main borders. For some reason digital cameras do not seem to have the ability to capture the traditional salmon color found in Chodor work. This applies to the images seen here. Most Turkoman collectors know this color. It is pure and good in this example.” I had first contacted Jack Cassin, by email, in 2012. I had bought the above Chodor chuval from an American dealer who was collaborating with a gallery in Stuttgart, Germany. In preparation of my purchase, I had bought a small booklet by Cassin & Hoffmeister (1988), Tent Band, Tent Bag. Despite the sober, not really scientific but at least pretending, descri...