The Cassin Collection at Auction (I) In Commemoration Of a Very Controversial Individual (to Say the Least)
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, description of most beautiful, in part very (200, maybe 300 years) old Turkmen artifacts, I was confused by text which seems to be unrelated to the bags: for example paintings of neolithic finds by James Mellart from Anatolia. I will return to that later.
I had further informed myself about my Chodor by reading an article written by contemporary composer Philip Glass' producer Kurt Munkacsi, a renowned collector of antique Turkmen rugs and textiles. I had written about this here on this blog.
The article which had appeared in 1994 in the magazin Hali displayed a cut and shut chuval which I had seen in Cassin's booklet of 1988 without any reference.
According to Table of Contents of Tent Band, Tent Bag, the chuval was part of Cassin's collection, who wrote,
"Plate 10. Chodor Chuval. Size 41" x 93". Asymmetrically knotted open to the left on partially depressed warps. Warps; 9/inch. Wefts: 20/inch.
and further,
"... This is one of the few Chodor chuvals from the earliest period. It has the spacious and clear drawing, wonderful color palette and very rare border patterns that should be expected from examples of great age and even though it is missing part of its length, having been rejoined, thus disfiguring the first row of major guls, its beauty and importance remain little effected."
What the depicted Palaeolithic goddess and pot with eight-pointed stars from southwest Turkestan of 3000 BC had to do with the 18th century (CE) chuval, I had no idea. But why did Munkacsi not mention Cassin as a reference in his article?
Of course, I knew Cassin from his infamous "discussion board" RugKazbah which I considered one of many, albeit interesting, blogs on the internet. At least since he had described in the most pejorative way a German dealer of antique textiles with whom he had travelled to Anatolia in 1980 and with whom I lately had some business. I had written about two pieces which I had purchased from that particular dealer here and here. Cassin's description of that dealer's personality matched my impression.
Cassin himself was notorious for fighting with each and everyone with a name in the often shady business of dealing with antique textiles. When I contacted him, asking about the embarrasing fact that Munkacsi had not mentioned him who apparently had published first (and owned) the Chodor chuval, I was wary not to provoke him. Well, Cassin responded, that is how it is. As an outcast in "rugdom", that is the way he is being treated all the time. It was the beginning of a cordial exchange of emails, about my small collection and, more important, about predators, big talkers and cheats among the dealers. Every now and then, I wrote favorable comments on his "discussion board", rugkazbah.com.
The most interesting episode of our short but fruitful friendship happened when Jack decided, in summer of 2017, to join Facebook in order to directly discuss with his adversaries things that matter. This took place mainly in a FB group called Kilim. Its administrator is undoubtfully an expert in natural dyes for textiles, Michael Bischof, someone Cassin had nasty, to say the least, encounters with in the past.
Unfortunately, when appearing on FB, Cassin chose numerous pseudonyms as he did not want to expose his identity (though everybody knew). When I took side with him (and it seemed that I was the only one), I was immediately even confused with Cassin himself. It was both entertaining and in a way appalling.
Well, shortly afterwards, in December 2020, Jack passed away. As rumors tell, he broke his hip and, after having been hospitalized, got pneumonia which he did not survive.
People asked, what happened to his supposedly spectacular collection? Jack had been bragging about the superiority of his pieces for years. He wrote about them and compared them with similar (in most cases much inferior) ones on his "discussion board". Jack was a good writer and I have to admit that I loved reading his weekly rants about his "colleagues" and their utter stupidity. He also curated a website with the strange title Weaving Art Museum [sic] and Research Institute [sic], or WAMRI. Both sites are now dead which is most regrettable.
True, Jack was a narcissist, maybe pathologic. As long as you did not disagree with his outlandish compulsion for self-glorification, you got along with him very well. Of course, he was generally right with his strong opinion about his adversaries. So, by all accounts Jack Cassin was a real asshole. I do not want to talk bad about a dead man, I rather mean that respectfully. Yes, in a way admiring his energy in fighting stupidity.
His collection has eventually surfaced, 1 1/2 years after his demise, and some pieces are at auction on June 26, 2022. While at least two famous and outstanding kilims are not for sale, a number of items are of questionable value. Cassin has purchased all of his life and frequently sold inferior pieces. So, not all in the sale is worth to consider. As I have never seen, "in the flesh", pieces of his collection, I am going to tell what I have read about some in the fourthcoming posts on the auction.
So, stay tuned. And not to forget, Jack, rest in peace!
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