2024 End-of-The-Year Review
& Outlook for 2025
Much Greater Access to Long-Held Private Collections
Made 2024 a Banner Year for Us & Our Clients!
By Jan David Winitz, President & Founder, Claremont Rug Company
A FEW OF THE ACCOLADES WE RECEIVED FROM CLIENTS IN 2024
“My new rugs are in place. I feel great satisfaction with this adventure.”
“The lovely Baku arrived the day before yesterday. It is perfect in every way for that spot. Your amazing eye continues to lead us down the true path.”
“Thanks for assembling such a tour-de-force of amazing treasures. The rugs are all installed and look great! As usual, thanks for the unfiltered advice.”
“I am so excited about acquiring such a spectacular carpet and can assure you that this Bakshaish carpet will have a beautiful new home.”
Museum-Level Turkish Melas Prayer Rug, 3′ 7″ x 4′ 10″, late 18th century. Honored as one of 65 “Best-of-Their-Type” Rugs Sold in 2024.
CLICK HERE to view.
I wish to begin our annual report on our accomplishments this year with this smattering of the many accolades we gratefully received from our clients in 2024, as their enthusiasm of ownership is so palpably expressed. From California to South Carolina, across Europe to Australia, Canada to China, and even the Middle East, clients eagerly acquired our breathtaking antique Oriental rugs for home decoration and as an art form.
“A Watershed Moment for Antique Oriental Rugs,” an article that featured us in Robb Report’s June/July edition, vividly confirms the strong, continually growing interest in this art form. The article begins, “Don’t look now, but a high-art collectible with a compelling history of significance and appreciation—at least from a selective audience of in-the-know connoisseurs—is poised for its long-awaited breakout. Those attentive to the market of art-caliber rugs are seeing that it’s advancing toward a noteworthy tipping point.” (Click here to read article).
OUR CLIENTS’ RESPONSE TO OUR COLLECTION
In 2024, buyers, whether returning or new, jumped with both feet into the High-Collectible category, which accounted for 54.5% of all rugs sold. Our Connoisseur-Caliber selection constituted 25.5% of purchases. This top-down phenomenon reflects a level of buying enthusiasm that has been growing steadily, both because of the evolution of our clientele’s taste and our increased access to long-held private collections and their treasured contents.
High-Collectible Antique Persian Mohtasham Kashan Carpet, 10′ 3″ x 13′ 8″, 2nd quarter 19th century. Honored as one of 65 “Best-of-Their-Type” Rugs Sold in 2024.
CLICK HERE to view.
Extraordinarily popular, especially with clients building substantial collections, our small rugs are attracting more widespread use in home design. The area-size category (3’ x 4’ to 5’ x 8’) represented 64% of our sales volume this year.
When choosing small rugs, clients enjoy the breadth of creativity that our area-size rugs offer. It is common for clients putting together a home to start with one, two or three pieces, then find niches throughout their homes for as many as 20 or more area-size rugs and runners. Recently, various interior design articles mention the trend for capitalizing on the effectiveness of standout area-size rugs for their decorative impact and, in the case of antique carpets, what their historical character adds to the ambiance of a home.
Purchasing rugs for collection or rotation in the home is a rapidly growing trend. Many clients are building dedicated closets for antique rugs beyond what they can display and some are creating whole rug-storage rooms. Claremont’s museum-level storage unit now holds well over 1,000 carpets purchased by our clients!
THE KEY IS IN THE ACCESS
2024 was a landmark year both in the unprecedented level of our sales and the continual growth of our network of collector-sellers, which affords us access to deeply artistic rugs of great age and wonderful condition. To underscore 2024’s great fortune, in 2023 we sold one Museum-Level rug. In 2024, we were able to acquire enough gems at this level to sell seven.
To get a yet more vivid sense of our elation regarding our role as a provider of monumental antique art carpets, don’t miss this year’s installment of our annual retrospective “Best of Their Type Rugs Sold In 2024”, an exhibition opening on claremontrug.com in mid-January. We have expanded this annual celebration to present 65 rugs selected from Claremont clients’ acquisitions this year. Riveting examples from 12 major rug styles are featured, including an extended series of incredibly early Caucasian and Bakshaish pieces.
High-Collectible Antique Persian Bakshaish Dragon and Phoenix Carpet, 9′ 3″ x 14′ 3″, circa 1825. Honored as one of 65 “Best-of-Their-Type” Rugs Sold in 2024.
CLICK HERE to view.
More often now, extremely committed collectors who we have had no prior relationship with, are offer us mind-boggling specimens. For example, in late 2024 we acquired a compilation of nearly 200 rare rugs that was assembled over four generations of a rug-obsessed family. This treasury, which we are calling “The California Collection”, was literally in quiet custody right under our noses in our home state! It includes stunning High-Collectible, Connoisseur-Caliber and even some Museum-Level pieces. Look for our opening of this monumental collection later this month.
WHAT OUR CLIENTS ACQUIRED IN 2024
Beyond the Persian Bakshaish folkloric rug style holding onto first place in room-size sales and second place in area-size acquisitions, brilliantly ingenious Caucasian tribal rugs kept first place in the small rug designation. Our selection of exquisite floral Mohtasham Kashans in 2024 did not disappoint, garnering the third-place slot in popularity. Room-size Serapis, Ferahans and Ferahan Sarouks, Kermanshahs and Laver Kirmans each had their own committed following. Tabrizs were similarly alluring to our clients, with each group attributing between 4.5 to 6% of our 2024 sales. When they became available, we readily placed extraordinarily rare, smaller Turkish rugs woven in the early 1800s with our most seasoned clients.
(Left) Interior of Canadian clients’ home decorated with 19th-century tribal rugs. Roomsize Serapi in background. (Right) Hallway furnished with antique Caucasian runners.
Answering our customers’ demand for 7’ x 10’ to 15’ x 25’ carpets for high-traffic areas or rugs a little younger and child/pet proof, our High-Decorative category served some 20% of our clients. Exquisite, inventive Sultanabads and our ever-popular, casual Serapi and Heriz carpets were the most popular. We maintain over 40 styles in our High-Decorative inventory (late 19th century to circa 1925), so buyers had a gamut of one-of-a-kind pieces in both large and area sizes to choose from.
NEW EDUCATIONAL CONTENT
The comprehensive Robb Report article mentioned above on the antique Oriental carpet niche market indicated it “is poised for its long-awaited breakout.” I was interviewed for my perspective on this prediction from my experience. (Click here to read article).
The Magazine Antiques invited me to conduct a 2-part podcast, “Learning to Love Antique Rugs.” This was great fun as their host coaxed out of me numerous anecdotes from my 45 years as a gallery owner, while also offering me time to express why antique rugs remain my heart’s desire. (Click here to access this podcast.)
The result of months of research and composition, in late 2024, we finished an article entitled “Mysterious and Visionary – The Tale of 19th Century Persian Hadji Jallili Carpets.” Precious little has been written on this august rug style and we are proud to advance the discourse about it.
High-Collectible Antique Laver Kirman Carpet signed by Tausensian, 9′ 0″ x 11′ 3″, circa 1900. Honored as one of 65 “Best-of-Their-Type” Rugs Sold in 2024.
CLICK HERE to view.
THE OUTLOOK AT CLAREMONT FOR 2025
Now in 2025, we are even more strongly positioned to offer the very finest antique art carpets in outstanding condition and to support you with inimitable service. We will be even more available to do Zoom or FaceTime calls to show you rugs while we are describing them. If you provide images of the spaces you wish to furnish, we can photoshop various carpets into them. We are continuing free Shipping On Approval of rugs of great interest for our U.S.-based clients, as it has been tremendously well-received.
We are exceedingly grateful to our highly skilled and impassioned staff members, many of whom have worked with us for a decade up to 35 years. We rely on their great expertise, each in their own department, to continue the “Old-School Service” we are well-known for and to create a buying experience like no other!
We look forward to working with you again in 2025.
High-Collectible, circa 1850 Bakshaish Camelhair carpet in a client’s sitting room.
