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Is This The Largest Antique Persian Carpet In Existence?* Michaelian Meshed Carpet (approximately 32 feet by 46 feet), Persia, 1904. * Woven In One Piece, In Its Original Size, With Condition Suitable for Repairs and Continued Use Our preliminary research leads us to believe that it might be. The Michaelian Meshed Carpet, dated 1904, from Persia, was custom woven for the Union League Club in New York City, where it graced the club for decades until it was purchased in the 1950's by Frank Michaelian of Michaelian and Kohlberg. This carpet represents a marvel of pre-industrial age engineering, artistry, craft, and logistics. Consider these numbers: It measures 32 feet by 47 feet. The knot count is 189 knots per square inch (14 vertical/13.5 horizontal). The total number of knots in the carpet is approximately 40,932,000. The average weaver would have tied about 8000 knots in a full work day, which translates into the equivalent of 5,116 days of weaving. The width of the rug would have allowed for about 12 weavers working at a time, totaling 426 days on loom. Add to this the hand spinning of the yarn, which we estimate took an additional 4000+ days of [...]

Material Culture will host an auction of art, antiquities, textiles, carpets, and other fine artifacts, brought together under the title “The Spirits of my Reincarnation Brothers and Sisters,” the name of an exceptional painting by Prince Twins Seven-Seven, up for sale at this auction. Items from Bill Liske’s collection of antique Tibetan and Chinese textiles and artifacts will also contribute to the body of the auction, along with many other select works of fine, folk, outsider, self-taught, ethnographic and decorative art. Material Culture’s aim is to provide the best collecting opportunities in these artistic fields, with pieces of diverse origin but uniform excellence, to the benefit of buyers, including young collectors or those new to auctioneering. The auction will feature over 400 lots, and bidding begins at 11 AM on Sunday, October 14. "The Spirits of my Reincarnation Brothers and Sisters," by Prince Twins Seven-Seven Leading the auction are pieces by Nigerian artist Prince Twins Seven-Seven (1944-2011), one of Africa’s most famous contemporary artists, whose international fame has garnered him exhibitions on every continent, and a place in the permanent collections of major museums around the world, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Modern Art in [...]

Dutch Colonial Satinwood Ebony Cabinet Material Culture’s September Estate Auction, sub-titled “Antiques, Collectibles, Fine and Decorative Arts,” heralds the fall with promise of more amazing deals and spectacular artifacts up for auction. The auction commences at 11 AM on Sunday, September 23. With items in all price ranges, both sale fanatics and those entirely new to auctions are invited to experience the thrill of bidding, and the joy of walking away with bargains. The auction catalogue is available at liveauctioneers.com, where anyone with access to the internet can bid on lots in real time. A substantial portion of the auction comes from an estate collection of colonial furniture—largely British, Dutch and Portuguese—manufactured in India, Ceylon and Southeast Asia. Highlights include a Dutch colonial cabinet of fine satinwood and contrasting ebony, with decorative ceramic knobs, made in Sri Lanka circa 1800, and a 19th century British colonial starburst mahogany cabinet, with five drawers. Both cabinets are in excellent condition, and are valued at $1,500-$2,500, as part of a rich offering of twenty cabinets of similar significance. Other exemplary items of colonial furniture include a 19th century British Colonial rosewood chaise longue with curved ends and a woven caned seat, [...]

Leading the May 5 auction. With Material Culture's Inaugural Auctions, the same kind of unique items of exceptional artistry and craft that have formed the backbone of the company for years have launched it boldly into the international auction market. The Inaugural Sale, “New World Orders,” on May 5, and the Inaugural Specialty Sale, “Antique Carpets, Textiles and Ethnographic Arts,” on May 26, grossed approximately $750,000, with all prices including the buyers' premium. Notably, both auctions saw over 90% of the lots sold. The sales garnered international interest, attracting bidders from 38 and 29 different countries, respectively. Domestic interest was also high, demonstrating a local desire for exotic artifacts, bridging continents through shared appreciation of art of all origins. The May 5 Auction, “New World Orders,” provided an eclectic mix of antiques, collectables and decorative arts, a collection that sought to transcend the borders of the art world along with those of the countries represented. The top lot, an original nineteenth-century Cigar Store Indian, attributed to Samuel Anderson Robb (1851-1928) sold for $35,400. A finely carved marble relief from northern India, dating all the way back to the 12th century, achieved $6,600, while a Russian Icon with a [...]

We invite you to come by Material Culture all of this week for our special exhibition preview of our May 26 auction, “Antique Textiles, Carpets, and Ethnographic Arts.” Our exhibition galleries, nearly 20,000 square feet of naturally-lit space, are housed under the same roof as Material Culture’s retail space. All of the items from the exhibitions 384 lots will be on view from 10 AM -6 PM, every day of the week. This auction offers many museum-quality lots, and the exhibition is a spectacular opportunity to view these rare objects, free and open to the public. Eighty-seven of the lots come from the Bill Liske Collection of Antique Tibetan Textiles, Carpets and Artifacts, all exquisite examples of Himalayan artistry, with textiles as old as the 10th – 13th centuries. The diverse mix of other exceptional items include an 18th century Ottoman silk embroidery in excellent condition, a 17th century Spanish Alcaraz carpet, a Ming period (1368-1644) carved wood Buddha, a woven Pre-Columbian band from Peru, a Dharmapala (Wrathful Deity) Dance Mask embellished in coral from Mongolia, early Christian textiles dating to the 16th century or earlier, a rare 19th century Shah-Savan horse cover from Azerbaijan, and a group of 16th-early [...]