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The Aita Collection Exceptional carpets Ghazi Aita was born in Damascus, Syria. He grew up surrounded by some of the best preserved monuments of previous Islamic periods which have survived to the twentieth century. This reminder every day of the beauty of Islamic Art created the latent interest which eventually resulted in his forming this outstanding collection of rugs and carpets. As a businessman he travelled extensively and, with time, purchased properties to use as his bases. In the 1970s he decided to buy rugs to furnish his apartment in Paris and his house in Los Angeles. The first purchase, in November 1972, was relatively conservative, the Fereghan carpet offered as lot 114. Within a couple of years however his enthusiasm had considerably increased and he was buying important and rare pieces. Each time he purchased, it was to be used; the condition was therefore important, as was the immediate beauty. Not for him the academic fragment of what had once been a magnificent and rare carpet. At the same time he was not afraid to trust his own eye. Whereas the majority of the rugs and carpets in the collection are good, and frequently outstanding, examples of well-known types, he was not afraid to buy something as unusual and idiosyncratic as the spectacular eighteenth century Turkish rug offered as the last lot in the sale. Ambassador Aita has always been interested in art. At first this was just as a connoisseur, but subsequently he discovered the enormous enjoyment that comes with painting itself. The majority of the paintings on his walls are his own work. The heightened sense of what is important in a work of art that comes with creating your own paintings is also apparent in his choice of carpets. In the best examples the colouring is outstanding. The Lotto carpet with cartouche border (lot 220), the medallion Ushak carpet (lot 210) and the three Isfahan carpets from the Wildenstein Family Collection, particularly lot 204, are all magnificent and beautiful works of art with wonderfully vibrant colours and superbly proportioned design. Their appeal is immediate to the observer, whether they be a general collector or a specific carpet connoisseur.

A TALISH LONG RUG

SOUTH CAUCASUS, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

Details

A TALISH LONG RUG
South Caucasus, first half 19th century
The shaded green field completely plain within an ivory double arrow-head frame, in an ivory border of polychrome rosettes divided by paired quartered lozenges between shaded brick-red stripes containing polychrome segmented squares, outer reciprocal skittle-pattern stripe, evenly worn, occasional small repairs, selvages replaced with probable slight loss
9ft.6in. x 3ft.7in. (292cm. x 109cm.)

Provenance

Anon sale, Lefevre & Partners, The Persian Carpet Galleries, 6 February 1976, lot 39

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The present rug is very close to one sold in these Rooms in the Battilossi sale, 11 February 1998, lot 58. That example also had a plain green field with arrow-head frame in a border of similarly spaced rosettes. A further example was offered by Herrmann (Eberhart: Seltene Orientteppiche, VI, Munich, 1984, no.31, pp.92-3). The motifs on the latter rug are closer to those of the Battilossi example while the drawing is closer to the present one. In his caption, Herrmann quotes a further example which is dated 1252 (1835-6 AD).

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