Mikey ..what do you like about the rug..?
I agree with Ken, beauty is in the eye of the beholder But Why do people buy an expensive rug to hang on the wall that they don’t really need? They are buying the… romance, artistry, affluence, and knowledgeable appreciation of woven art ..this is no different than any other art. There are three levels of consumers in the rug market IMO....Ignorant, Decorative and the Knowledgeable. Ignorant and decorative consumers blend into each other and the decorative and knowledgeable blend with each other. Ignorant and decorative buyers are usually emotional purchases with little knowledge or depth of understanding of the product in this case a rug. Their purchases are emotional based on color, design and trigger terms like “royal” Bokhara , “princess” Bokhara, “palace” size, or “Master weaver”.. knot count, silk content usually terms they don’t understand …. This is how rug shops with a 80- 90% off sales make their money and ignorant and decorative consumers often pay- X above legitimate retail.
The knowledgeable buyer tends to look for historic, ethnographic, cultural context for a rug purchase and has a deeper understanding of the rug making process, isn’t hooked by silk content, knot count while the purchase is emotional it’s a well throughout.
So what’s the rug up top ….it’s a basterdized Persian design in a tired dated color pallet, programmed there’s 100’s if not thousands of this rug out there and nothing particularly unique or original about it. The rug has no historic, ethnographic or cultural context to tie the design to the weavers or their culture. Because of this the rug is not going to gain value, become collectable or an heirloom in the future i'm not sure what will but this isn't it .
I like a lot of what woven legends is making they have taken weaving back to small village productions in eastern Turkey
http://www.wovenlegends.com/lgtigirspages/tg659g13.html
http://www.wovenlegends.com/lgsnppages/snp35.html
http://www.wovenlegends.com/lgeuphratespages/4005.html