Nagel’s 40th Anniversary and other September Rug Sales

September 3, 2015

Nagel, lots 15 and 54

The European rug auction scene, after its long summer break, gets back in the swing of things on Tuesday 8 September 2015 with a celebratory sale at Nagel to mark the 40th anniversary of the Stuttgart auctioneer’s entry into the arena of regular dedicated carpet and textile sales.

The 252-lot jubilee sale includes a wide-ranging consignment of 60 town, nomad and village rugs from the private collection of the firm’s former proprietor, Gert K. Nagel. Among his rugs are lot 54, a pinwheel Kazak (est. €10,000) published in 1979 by Doris Eder (then Nagel’s carpet specialist), and lot 73, a rather worn Yomut Turkmen pentagonal asmalyk depicting a camel-caravan (est. €2,000), published by H.E.R. Martin in 1983, and by Nagel’s present CEO, Uwe Jourdan, in 1989 and 1997.

Other highlights are expected to include lot 15, the Heriz silk tree-of-life prayer rug illustrated on the catalogue cover, which was purchased by the consignor from Ulruch Schürmann in 1971 (est. €8,000), and lot 31, a giant 33m² Kerman ‘palace’ carpet (est. €80,000). More rugs, art objects and antiques from the Gert K. Nagel collection will come under the hammer in a special auction to mark his 80th birthday in January 2016.

Rippon Boswell, lot 175

In Copenhagen on Wednesday 16 September, Brunn Rasmusssen’s sale includes a selection of 19th, 20th and even 21st century oriental rugs and workshop carpets from Persia, Turkey, the Caucasus and Turkmenistan. The next day, Galerie Koller in Zurich offer 129 lots, of which top lot is likely to be a rather unusual Sehna prayer rug (lot 1490, est. CHF12-15,000), although the most interesting item may turn out to be lot 1525, an ‘antique’ Ushak or Selendi white-ground ‘Bird’ rug, if it is not a later copy (est. CHF1,500-2,000).

Next up, in Wiesbaden on Saturday 19 September will be Rippon Boswell’s General carpet and rug sale (online catalogue only), including 262 lots of antique Persian, Caucasian, Anatolian and Turkmen rugs with invitingly low estimates, as well as kilims and suzanis, such as lot 175, an excellent Pskent embroidery (est. €5,200).

Then on Monday 21 September, Dorotheum in Vienna offers 228 lots of carpets, textiles and tapestries. There are many and varied items of interest, though as is customary for Dorotheum sales, the lots are not as invitingly estimated as the competition. The sale begins with a rare Chodor Turkmen stepped-outline prayer rug (lot 1, est. €5,000-7,000), and ends with an extraordinary section devoted to a succession of so called ‘American’ Saruk rugs and carpets (lots 218-228).

Finally, back to Vienna, where Austria Auction Company will hold a sale of antique Caucasian rugs and kilims on 26th September.