Press Release

Claremont Rug Company Acquires Major Collection From Silicon Valley-based Collector

More Than 100 Rugs Dating to Early 19th Century Will be Available Through Private Sale

Oakland, CA—May 6, 2015—Globally prominent art dealer Jan David Winitz, whose Claremont Rug Company gallery specializes in art-level Oriental carpets from the “Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,” today announced the acquisition of an important private collection from a Silicon Valley-based collector.

The “Silicon Valley Collection,” built over nearly four decades, contains more than 100 “world class” rugs, some of which were woven in the first half of the 19th century. Prior to the acquisition, the rugs were displayed in a family home in theSilicon Valley, at a family compound in the Northern Rockies and in a residence near Harvard, his alma mater.

Winitz said the Collection would be offered exclusively to Claremont clients via personal emails and through a “client-only exhibition” on the Gallery’s website. “Because our clients reside on five continents,” said Winitz, “most of the rugs will be placed by private consultations with me and my senior sales staff, fittingly, over the Internet.”

The Silicon Valley Collection is extremely wide ranging in type and size, encompassing astutely chosen tribal, village and city rugs. Some of the focal points are unique Caucasian rugs and outstanding smaller rugs in sought after styles, including Ferahan and Motasham Kashan. With three significant homes to furnish, the couple acquired numerous high decorative to high-collectible room size and oversize carpets of rare beauty, including Serapi, Bijar, highly prized Hadji Jallili Tabriz and Bakshaish.

All of the carpets in the Collection would be classified Levels 2 thru 4 in Claremont’s proprietary six-tier Rug Pyramid©, (http://www.claremontrug.com/antique-rugs-information/collecting/the-oriental-rug-market-pyramid-new/) which classifies rugs by their rarity and collectability as fine art and antiques. In the Pyramid, Level 1 rugs are primarily historic and held by museums and royal families.  Levels 2 thru 4 are considered highly-collectible to investment quality. Levels 5 and 6 are decorative and of no collecting or investing value.

The private sale process has developed over the last several years at Claremont. “Because we acquire the vast majority of our rugs in private transactions and are the only Gallery that purchases entire private treasuries of collectable and high-collectable-level rugs, we have decades of experience in offering these elite pieces to art and antique connoisseurs,” said Winitz, the author of The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug.

“Starting about five years ago, we noticed that amount of time that it took to place a collection of this size was rapidly compressing from about 18 months to less than six. Last year, we decided to offer another important trove, The Houston Collection, by limiting access to only our own clients. The 120 pieces sold in about 90 days.”

Winitz has known the owners of the Silicon Valley Collection since 1983 when they attended two lectures that he delivered, the second at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club. To that point, the husband and wife had been self-taught, having read rug books and visited several American and European Oriental carpet galleries. They owned about 25 carpets, most of which were inherited, when they first visited Claremont.

“I was impressed with the husband’s knowledge of various rug styles and the wife’s enthusiasm for incorporating different art forms in their home décor,” he said. He discovered that the couple had started to display carpets in their South Bay residence, including pieces inherited by the husband’s father, an oil executive.

Eventually, the collectors built special cedar lined closets to store rugs as they rotated the rugs on a regular basis. They also collected European paintings and statues, and enjoyed synchronizing the placement of their collections throughout their homes.

About Claremont Rug Company