October, j p 1 5 
23 
Their Selection and Care in the House — What Makes a Real Antique 
VINCENT YARDUM 
ANY large department stores claim that the subject of 
-i-VA Oriental rugs has been commercialized—that each rug 
has a market value that can be approximately ascer¬ 
tained. The fallacy of this is clearly shown by the following: 
A short time ago I was sent by a leading Fifth Avenue 
dealer in antiques to the home of a prominent antiquary and 
rug collector, to interview his wife with reference to cleaning 
and repairing some rugs. During the course of my visit I 
happened to notice a small tattered and dirty looking Serebend 
rug doing service on the dark landing at the head of the stairs 
leading to the kitchen. I suggested to Mrs. Collector that she 
allow me to take that rug to clean and repair and so forth, 
telling her that it was a fine old piece with a very unusual de¬ 
sign for a Serebend. But she refused, stating that her hus¬ 
band had bought it from Blank & Co., the concern through 
whom I had been sent, for only $15, many years before when 
he first started collecting, that it had done service for a long 
time, and that she had ceased to care for it by this time, in 
fact would not spend any more money on it—even felt in¬ 
clined to get rid of it. Upon hearing this I invited her to give 
it to me as part payment for the services I was going to ren¬ 
der her on other rugs. She welcomed this idea and allowed 
me to take it on my promise to allow her $10 credit on her bill. 
When I took it to a shop a connoisseur on old rugs was 
delighted with the antique “pearl,” as he called it. Without 
wasting any time he had it wash-cleaned and gave it to one 
of the men to begin weaving in the damaged places and mak¬ 
ing the necessary repairs. A small border at each end which 
had ravelled off, was rewoven, as well as several small holes 
in the center. Soon the rug was in a presentable condition. 
Immediately after completion it was taken to the Fifth Ave¬ 
nue firm by whom I had been sent to the collector’s house, and 
bought for $75 by them. Not long after there was a common 
rumor on the rug market that Blank & Co., the firm in ques¬ 
tion, had sold to Mr. So-and-So, the collector whose wife had 
got rid of the small Serebend rug, a very remarkably designed 
Serebend piece for a fabulous price. And yet it was admitted 
that the price was none too high for a rug of such character, 
worthy to be numbered in any collection. The rug, of course, 
was none other than the one that came from the collector s 
own home. 
Since then I have been wondering who was the blindest of 
us in not appreciating an antique piece when we saw it, and 
further, who was the wisest. I am convinced that the collec¬ 
tor who now possesses it is the most fortunate, for he has the 
rug—a rug that cannot be duplicated for any amount of 
money. And if a rug cannot be duplicated, who shall say that 
any price paid for it is too much ? 
It is true that an antique Oriental rug with a large price 
will draw more attention and can be more easily sold than the 
same rug with a much smaller price. The reason for this is 
When discovered this antique Kouba rug was in perfect condition, 
save for the borders at each end that had ravelled off. It was 
rewoven and made complete 
obvious. Take, for illustration, the Serebend rug here. The 
collector did not appreciate the rug at $15, and only when the 
price was greatly increased did he come to recognize the true 
merits of the piece. But one must accept that the value was 
always in the rug, only he did not realize it. The claim of the 
; 
1 w 
■; 
In this 300-year-old Ghordez prayer rug the black had worn and 
had to be renapped. The black wool found in Orientals is seldom 
of vegetable dyes and wears quickly 
