Persian Rugs the O'Connell Notes

Possibly Unique Garrus Sumak by R. John Howe
with comments by Barry O'Connell

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TurkoTek Discussion Forums (http://www.turkotek.com/VB22/index.php)
- Mini-Salon 8: Holiday Party at the Keshishian's. by R. John Howe (http://www.turkotek.com/VB22/forumdisplay.php?forumid=60)
-- Possibly Unique Garrus Sumak (http://www.turkotek.com/VB22/showthread.php?threadid=1416)

Posted by R. John Howe on 01-06-2006 10:36 PM:

Possibly Unique Garrus Sumak

Dear folks -

In a phone conversation with Harold Keshishian the other evening, he asked if I had taken pictures of his Garrus sumak with botehs in the field. I said that I had not because it had been published twice in recent years.

But Wendel has mentioned it in another thread in this mini-salon and some here may not know of it. Since it is such an exceptional piece, I have scanned it and present it below, despite the fact that it is difficult to photograph and to scan well.

The comprehensive image is from the catalog from ICOC X. It shows the piece over all, although the curve of the book shows on the left side of this image.



A second detail image is from Wertime's volume "Sumak" where this piece gets a full double facing page presentation. This is the right side.



Here is part of what Wertime says about this piece:

"Since its publication in Landreau and Pickering's groundbreaking catalog, "From the Bosphorus to Samarkand," plate 42 has been recognized as one of the masterpieces of sumak bag art....It is unusually fine....Plate 42 must be considered one of the oldest of the Shahsevan Persianate sumak pieces to survive. It is probably from a specially commissioned bag, for no other examples like it are known."

It is hard to get a sense of how good this piece is from these images, but those who have had it in their hands come away uniformly impressed that it is one of the best they have ever seen.

Regards,

R. John Howe

My Comments

 

Senneh_Kilim_Prayer_Kilim_Circa_1875_Sotheby's New York Lot_120

 I was reading the 1992 catalog of Sotheby's New York spring sale when the picture to the left peaked my interest. I remembered that R. John Howe had recently written about Harold Keshishian's Sumac panel on Turkotek. I read Turkotek but of all of the regulars I find Howe is about the most worthwhile. There are other knowledgeable people but John is the one doing the "Heavy Lifting".

Now of course I know the Keshishian piece but John brought it to mind and added in the John Wertime quote. I have not seen my copy of Sumac Bags by John Wertime since we had the fire in my library so it is handy that John did the work.

I wish I had a better image of the 1992 Sotheby's New York Lot_120 but the resolution of Sotheby's catalogs 14 years ago is not nearly what it is today. I will call Harold and see if he would be gracious enough to bring the Sumac into work Friday

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