View from the Fringe Newsletter of the New England Rug Society Vol. XII, No. 1 September 2004 www.ne-rugsociety.org September Meeting: James Douglas on the Weavings of the Baluch In past years the NERS has heard in-depth sur- veys of almost all the major types of oriental rugs. A Next Two Meetings Details notable exception has been the Baluch—those mys- Dates: Friday, September 24 (Douglas) terious weavings whose austere exterior often hides Friday, October 22 (Poullada) a unique beauty of wool, color, and design. This omission is to be finally rectified at our first meet- Time: 7:30PM ing of the new season, when James Douglas will sur- Place: First Parish, Bedford Road, Lincoln vey the wide geographical and esthetic gamuts cov- Note: $5 guest fee for non-members ered by these weavings, both pile and flatweave. His Directions: See page 14 talk will be a particular treat because his illustra- tions will not be slides, but rather actual pieces from He has been actively involved with recent ACORs, his own extensive collection—including, for contrast, having curated the Baluch exhibition and hosted gal- some non-Baluch pieces. lery tours at ACOR 6, and having been a speaker at James Douglas has been a naval officer, col- ACOR 7. lege instructor, and freelance writer among other Attendees are encouraged to bring some of their pursuits. He now lives in St. Louis and collects rugs. own Baluchis for discussion after the lecture. October Meeting: Peter Poullada on Nomadic Life in the Hindu Kush A basic understanding of nomadic life contrib- an avid collector of central Asian tribal weavings for utes to a greater appreciation of the woven treasures over 20 years and is currently doing research on the that we collect. We are fortunate, therefore, to have ethnogenesis and history of the Turkmen and Uzbek Peter Poullada discuss the migratory tribes of Af- peoples of central Asia based on Islamic and Rus- ghanistan and their way of life. Peter’s personal ex- sian primary sources from the 13th to the 19th cen- perience has made him well equipped for the task: tury. He is president of SFBARS, the San Francisco he first came to Afghanistan in 1954 when his father rug society. was appointed to be the economic officer at the U.S. Peter sent us the following summary of his talk: Embassy in Kabul. He returned to live and travel “My talk will be based on the collection of al- throughout the country in 1967-68, 1974 and 1975- most 1000 slides of Afghanistan taken by the 76. He has visited 28 of the 29 provinces of Afghani- Poullada family over the course of three decades. I stan and made several trips to central Asia in the will use about 100 slides, mostly from the early 1980s and 1990s. In May 2001 he spent three weeks 1950s, to illustrate the transhumant life-cycle of the driving 2000 miles through Chinese Turkestan. He nomadic pastoral tribes of Afghanistan, showing their has a degree in Middle Eastern History and Languages migration from winter to summer pastures in the from Princeton University and wrote his master’s Hazarajat, the high mountainous region of the west- thesis on the economic development of Afghanistan ern Hindu Kush. I will show scenes of the landscapes at the University of California-Berkeley. He has been Continued on page 14 Please don’t forget to send in your membership renewal form by 9/10! Page 2 View from the Fringe President’s Year-end Review The New England Rug Society has finished out attended to understand the complexities of this an- its 19th year in good cheer and fine health. Our mem- cient craft. bership is at a peak of 177, our finances are sound, Our last lecture meeting of the season, held at and another year of worthy events and memorable ALMA (The Armenian Library and Museum of meetings is on the planning table. America), featured two of our own—seasoned It was a year of well-attended and well-received Turkmen-collectors Jim Adelson and Yon Bard— meetings. The season kicked off with a Sunday af- who presented a well-composed PowerPoint review ternoon reception and lecture at the Newburyport of the Turkmen tribes and their weavings, followed gallery of longstanding NERS patron member John by a hands-on presentation of pieces from their own Collins. John’s particular area of expertise, along collections. We thank NERS member Gary Lind- with Persian Bijars, is the whole gamut of South Sinanian, ALMA’s curator, for hosting the meeting. Persian weavings, and his review of that area, with And finally, we gathered once again in May for an emphasis on Afshars, was both informative and our annual Saturday picnic and show-and-tell at the compelling. Concord farm of NERS member John Bordman. The next month saw a bit of a departure from Despite cloudy skies and the threat of rain, the event our usual fare. Textile artist Betsy Sterling Ben- was the usual success, this time with an indoor “moth jamin introduced us to what proved a totally new market” as well as our usual treasure-laden show- area for most NERS members: Japanese resist-dyed and-tell. The latter event, it was interesting to note, textiles. After walking us through the extremely so- featured at least three ethnographic textiles for ev- phisticated ancient process, she presented a review ery pile carpet, a telling indication of the extent to of contemporary work being done in the medium, which collectors are broadening their horizons to find including many of her own spectacular creations. new and different collecting opportunities as the sup- In November, it was back to the familiar, but in ply of noteworthy pile weavings wanes. the context of a new and different perspective. Rug NERS’s other major achievement of the year book author Pete Stone was the featured speaker at happened just as we entered 2004: the grand open- our annual joint meeting with Skinner Inc., held in ing of our online exhibition of ethnographic trans- conjunction with their fall carpet sale. His talk, port and storage bags. Although it looks easy to the which was based on his forthcoming book on the outsider, bringing off one of these events is anything subject, explored the origins and evolutions of de- but; it’s a major undertaking. But a lot of team ef- sign motifs in oriental carpets and tribal weavings. fort over the course of eight months, combined with In February we had the pleasure of hosting the the usual intense arguments that always (since we renowned Turkish antique textile dealer Seref Özen, indulged in them by email) stopped short of fistfights, who gave us an insightful overview of the kinds of made it all work in the end. If you haven’t yet seen rugs and textiles now funneling through Istanbul from it, go to www.ne-rugsociety.org, click gallery, then Central Asia on their way to the western markets. click the “To Have and To Hold” icon. The incisiveness with which he identified and evalu- For their special efforts in that undertaking, our ated a rich variety of show-and-tell pieces after his thanks go to Yon Bard (photography), Holly Smith talk gained the admiration of all. (technical analyses), Mike Tschebull (the main es- In March we were privileged to welcome one say), and Jim Adelson, Al Saulniers, Bethany of the contemporary oriental rug world’s most influ- Mendenhall, and Jeff Spurr (individual captions). ential figures, Dr. Harald Böhmer of Marmara Uni- Beau Ryan provided us the facilities in which to do versity in Istanbul, founder of the DOBAG project analyses and photography. The biggest thanks of all, and a leading expert on dye technology. His over- however, go to Bob Alimi, who successfully executed view of natural dyes in oriental rugs helped all who Continued on page 3 Page View from the Fringe 3 President’s Year-end Review Continued from page 2 Amanda Phillips. the prodigious task of putting it all together into a For the upcoming season we’re very pleased to handsome, beautifully organized online exhibition. welcome longtime member Jo Kris to the Steering If you’ve missed seeing the glowing public reaction Committee. Jo, as most of you know, was for years to this undertaking, go to the Gallery and click the oriental rug expert at Skinner Inc. Now that she’s Guestbook to read some well-earned praise. retired from Skinner and remaining in the field as In the rug world proper, the principal ruggie an appraiser and consultant, she’s looking to devote event of the past year took place in April, when the more time to the NERS, and we’re pleased to have her 7th American Conference on Oriental Rugs (ACOR energy and expertise at our disposal. 7) was held in Seattle. Despite the distance, some Special thanks to these members whose extra 30 NERS members were in enthusiastic attendance. generosity helped us round out such a successful year: Also, NERS was heavily involved in the planning Patrons: Jim Adelson & Debbie Sheetz, John and execution of the event. Conference speakers Collins, Jeremy & Hanne Grantham, George Grillo, included NERS members Lawrence Kearney, Mike Michael & Nancy Grogan, Tom & Ann Hannaher, Tschebull, Holly Smith, Kate Van Sciver, Bethany Lloyd & Susan Kannenberg, Mark Hopkins, Jo Kris, Mendenhall, and Charles Lave. And society mem- Elaine Mosesian, Mario & Caroline Ratzki, Sheryl bers who had booths in the conference’s popular Read, Beau Ryan, Peter Walker. Dealers’ Row included John Collins, Peter Pap, Supporting Members: Richard Belkin, Buzz Holly Smith, Tom Caruso, Beau Ryan, and Thom & Louise Dohanian, Tom & Virginia Gasho, Daniel Mond.