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Published: August 30th 2013
MAGIC CARPET RIDE... embracing the World's oldest profession. She approached with the coy look of someone used to getting her own way..."I want to make an offer" she said slightly demanding.
But he did not look up...pretended he was busy...his turbaned head not tilting to her presence.
"I offer $*** for these" she said...putting them under her arm as if the sale was assurred.
He slowly looked her up and down...a look of disdain...and when she repeated it...tossed his head...swirling his long white flowing robes around him...as he turned and walked away...her little legs like pistons in pursuit.
He was not interested in bargaining with her...he might be closing in 5 minutes...but he was in control of this sale not her.
I watching was also caught by surprise.
He was Maharaja...and I was next in line.
******
I have a house full of handmade rugs...one of my many obsessions...had to rebuild our house to house them.
Earned the respect of the toughest traders in the World...Rug traders...yep treat me differently to other customers.
How can that be???
This is my story.
******
It all started with a
Tibetan rug on polished floorboards...rebuilt our house around it...still there...still smiling at me .
See my blog
CHINA: Zhongdian...the Road to Shangri-la...and the picture of that beautiful piece (my opening picture).
Maharaja sold me my second & third...yep I was next in line.
Our simple fibro cottage then had a ratty white carpet in the lounge & hall...looked as if dogs had defecated on it.
Saw an ad in the paper
"Liquidation Sale...Handmade Rugs from $99...All Rugs Must Go"...Hilton Hotel Sydney 9am Saturday to 9pm Sunday...gotta get something to cover the stains on our carpet.
Got there as close to 9am on the Saturday...only about 5 rugs for $99 as I recall...picked the one I liked best...then a woman moved to snatch it from me...then I really wanted it!!!
Traded it in several years later for $1,100...a double knotted Amritsar as it turned out...had it on the wall until then...would have liked it even more if I knew it was valuable.
Found a 14 foot runner for the hall...bit pricey...think we'll come back at 10 to 9 on Sunday night and Maharaja will want to give it to us...or so we thought.
Came back on the
Sunday evening...
Lesson One...Rug Traders have the best memories in the World.
We were in different clothes...no way he would have recognised us..."Who were those men talking to you yesterday? What rug shop were they from?" he said picking me out...no idea what he was on about...I suppose somebody may have spoken to me.
"I thought you had to sell all the rugs by 9pm."
"No. We'll pack up and move down to Melbourne."
Must have been my pretty blonde wife...gave me a good deal...a 14 foot Princess Bokhara rug from Pakistan...usually 12 feet...liked it until I became snobby prefering Persians...covered the dog shit marks well though!
Lesson Two...there is not such a thing as an "all rugs must go" sale.
Learning the craft Each time I looked at that ratty white carpet in our house I wished I had bought more rugs to hide it...gnawed at me...often found myself in rug shops...unable to afford any further remedy...anything but crap...anything good out of my range.
Some rug traders got to know me...me always asking "What is this? What is that?"...showing me books...showing their private collections...what was good...what was not...making me drool...amazed
MY LEADLIGHT
Designed by meat the incredible detail...beauty...art...passion...of the World's oldest profession.
Got some rug books...showing off by walking into rug shops and saying "That is a this...that is a that"...lifting the corner of a rug and rubbing it between my fingers while looking away...observing the dealers' demenour to me was different to other customers...offerring me deals previously unheard of...I'm getting good at this...my collection growing...cheap pieces...but no crap.
Friends getting me to help them buy rugs...me parading around the stores as if I was Maharaja...but without the turban and white robes...amazing deals.
Lesson 3...try rubbing the corners of rugs in your fingers as stated above...never fails to get a favourable reaction!!!
Auction sales...for those in need of instruction. The aim of a rug auction is to flog everything for as much as possible...to sell as much as possible...and to make you think you've got a bargain.
If there are a lot of people there...my advice is to go home ASAP...otherwise you'll probably spend much too much...and you'll probably not get the pieces you want anyway.
How then O Dancing One?
Read on.
Saw an ad for a Rug Auction...Container shipped fresh out
of war torn Iran...North Sydney Oval...what sort of place is that for an auction...room under the Grandstand.
Hardly anyone there...found myself opening the bidding on many rugs for $100...I'd just yell it out...got four for no more than $250 each...nice rugs.
Towards the end they got to the good rugs.
Held up a gorgeous brown camel hair rug..."Who will open the bidding for $850?"
"300 dollars" I called out.
"No...this is a rare rug...who'll open for $850?"
"300 dollars".
I the only bidder...nod from the back...went home with 5 rugs that night.
And that camel hair rug...distinctive odour in wet weather...traded it in for $750 years later...then it crossed my path again...the price then $1,500...I'll tell that story later.
Went to another rug auction with friends...this time at a downtown hotel...also not many people there.
I bidding for our group...another group of 6 or so bidding on nearly everything as well. Picked up 8 rugs that time for myself and some for our friends...total cost of mine $920...now that's good buying.
The proprietors insisting I tell them which rug dealer I represented...finding it difficult to believe the other group
POTALA PALACE RUG
From Lhasa, Tibet of course! was there to buy Christmas presents...we had a good laugh about that one.
Dreams I now had so many rugs I dreamed of riding a magic carpet to exotic locales...to buy rugs...in Tibet...in North Africa...in the Middle East.
And I did.
We ripped up the ratty carpet and had the floors sanded and polished...should have been for health reasons...sorry...my reason was to highlight the rugs.
Our health improved...and the rugs looked fantastic.
I now had so many rugs I swapped them around each season.
Even got my father to look after three of them at his place.
I dreamed of getting myself a really ritsy rug...worth heaps...costing me knicks...dream on...no way that could ever happen.
But it did.
My Ritsy Rug Dropped into a Persian Rug HQ one evening in the city...only stopped as there was a clear parking spot outside..."only looking...I have many rugs"...only showed me their best...little did I know I had opened myself up.
Then I saw it...prettiest rug I had ever seen...$18,000...huge...no way I'm interested.
Somehow convinced me to put it in my car...no suggestion I buying...no suggestion they
selling..."I'll come to your home and value your rugs for you and collect it back then."
Rang me next morning..."How about trading in some rugs to buy it...won't cost you anything".
Little did I know he was a fisherman & I was the fish.
Next thing I know I was counting my rugs...contacted my father and took my rugs back.
The rug trader came...valued all my rugs...trade in prices only he said...all higher than I had paid...most except the Amritsar lower than expected...then he started bargaining...no way he was taking the ritsy rug back...how many was I prepared to part with to keep it?
Cost me 11 rugs and a bit of cash...strange feeling parting with some of my favourites...me resolute I would not part with some he wanted...ended up with the ritsy rug...gotta say the place looked bare with half my rugs gone...lucky I took back the rugs I lent my father...they're gone.
Only problem...the ritsy rug...extraordinary quality...12 ft by 10 ft...only room big enough to hold it is my office...pity...its much too good to walk on!
Sorry Dad...I'll help you replace them The next day Tuesday my father on the phone..."the place looks empty after you took your rugs back"..."O.K. I'll come
with you on Saturday to help you get replacements."
Next day he rang again..."I couldn't wait any longer...I bought 3 rugs today...I want you to come around and see what you think of them"..."What.I told you to wait until I could come with you on Saturday".
Lesson 4...Try not to be too impulsive.
Went to my Dad's place...will never forget this visit.
Knocked on the door...opened..."I don't believe this...That rug was in my secretary's office...that was my camel hair rug"...went inside...that's an Isfahan...one of the top Persian you can get..."I don't believe it...that blue rug was one of mine as well!!!"
Two out of three rugs he bought...had once been mine...still can't believe it!
"Where did you buy them? How much did you pay for them?"
"That Northbridge rug store you often go to. $1,500 for the brown one...$1,500 for the blue one...I thought the prices were quite reasonable."
Yeh that's one of their shops. That's DOUBLE what they paid me!
Lesson 5...Trade in prices are about 50%!o(MISSING)f retail.
******
I was pretty angry...firstly, that my Dad had gone buying rugs without me...secondly, he had been ripped off...still
AFGHAN PICTURE RUG
Lives in my office can't believe of the 100s of rugs in that shop...he'd pick two of mine...proves they were good rugs!
Rang the manager...gentle words...possibly not probably...definitely the right words.
Call from my Dad..."The rug shop refunded $1,500!!!"
Yep...definitely the right words!
Lesson 6..."It's not what you know...it's who you know."
A tug on the sleeve...it must be Christmas Like all good stories I've saved the best for last.
Walking down the corridors of a courthouse...a tug on my sleeve...a note handed to me
"For rugs...(name and phone number)"...talk about left field!
Women with glasses and a bun...stranger to me...stopped me in my tracks.
"I'm Phil's sister...he talks about you a lot...says you like rugs...I'm an Egyptologist...I know this lady through Rotary...lives near here...packing up to move to England...selling all her rugs...she won't mind you ringing her."
Didn't think about it until about 7pm...emptying my pockets...Denise says we have too many rugs...Denise up North with the kids...no harm in giving a ring.
"Come straight away" she said..."We are loading the truck now"...seemed insistent...I'm going to get into trouble...No...I'm only going for a look!
******
The place was
like a castle...sandstone...31 rooms...each with rugs all over the floors...rugs hanging from nails on the corner of every door...off the corner of every window...a truck in the turning circle...loading rugs.
Lesson Seven...Talk about timing...some things are meant to be!
The owner claimed to be the only female Persian Rug Dealer in the World.
Led me on a tour of the house...started upstairs...noticed if I stopped to look at a rug...even gave a momentary glance at a rug...she'd give a nod to her assistant...and he would pick up the rug.
By the time I'd finished the tour...there was a massive pile of rugs in the massive downstairs vestibule.
"How many do you want? she said.
"And you have to get that rug as well...it's too heavy to load into the truck."
Yikes...what have I got myself into...I'm definitely going to get into trouble...big big trouble!!!
******
Walked out of there with the heavy rug...and a handful of others...hid them under the house...produced them on Christmas Day...as Christmas presents for our bedrooms.
Lesson 8...Did I get into trouble?
Too right I did!!!
******
Good things happen to those that wait Next thing I get a call from 'the
PRIVATE COLLECTION
In appreciation pour moi...rare Afghan picture rug...Lives in my office only female Persian Rug Dealer in the World'...became a client...amazing adventures following...pursuing those that had ripped her off...entering "the dark side" of the oldest profession in the World...rug dealing...also the world's toughest profession!
And to show her appreciation...got to pick from her private collection...some of my favourite pieces...a Caucasian blue runner...a rare raw silk Afghan tribal...a rare large Afghan picture rug...even passed a Persian Sarouk through the window to me one year and said "Happy Christmas" and drove off without another word.
******
I'm in Lhasa, Tibet...can't leave without a rug...one of the Potala Palace...perfect...would have got a bigger one if I could have carried it...and another rug...just a small one thanks.
I always dreamed of buying a rug in Tibet...always dreamed of visiting the Potala...yep...dreams can come true.
And then in Dubai purchased two pure silk Qum signature rugs (signed by the weaver in the rug)...more than replaced that Qum I traded in for the ritsy rug.
******
So now my obsession is travelling.
Easy when you know how.
Easy when you have a magic carpet to take you places...no better way to travel to those exotic destinations.
Come
PURE SILK QUM
Exquisite Persian Qum from Dubai to think of it...I think I'll get on now.
Where...where to next?
Take me magic carpet...surprise me.
Yeh...surprise me!!!
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
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vivek
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