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The highlight of Harold
Keshishian's rug morning was the veritable explosion
of brilliant red textiles that he closed with. The one
directly behind Harold is about 400 years old. The one
all the way to the right is new from a company in Los
Angeles California.
Harold was fortunate to be joined by his two sons
Christopher (left) and Kirk on the right.
Harold showed us that this magnificent piece that
appears to be one piece at first glance is actually nine
pieces.
One or nine made no difference to me as I found this
one of the most visually striking pieces in the show.
Here we have two surprises at least to me. On the left
Christopher is holding up a Venetian Yastik and on the
right Kirk is holding up a Yastik that is either Venetian
or Ottoman. I never equated Venice with Yastiks.
Often we think of Venice as a city in Italy which it
is. However at the peak of it's military prowess Venice
controlled islands in the Aegean Sea and contended with
first the Byzantine and then the Ottoman empire for
control of Mediterranean Sea trading routes. Venice at
various times maintained a Black Sea trading station.
Here Harold demonstrates a fragment that was the
sleeve of and Ottoman jacket. In the background is a
Caucasian silk Jajim. Harold mentioned that when he first
collected it he thought it was Italian because of the
fineness but he later determined that it was Caucasian.
Harold is showing us a servants jacket. Ottoman
dignitaries would often have a young servant often
Albanian who would attend to them. This is what they
would have worn.
Oriental Rugs the O'Connell Guide
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