The Great-grandfather

Lured to challenges in exotic distant lands, in 1848 the adventurous youngest son of Genovese shipbuilders found himself exploring the south fork of the American River in Northern California. There, a new friendship with a foreman on the farm of John Sutter led to the serendipitous involvement in the lucrative job of panning for gold when it was first discovered there! In just over one year, he had gathered enough sacks of this precious metal that he could leave the opportunity behind to the droves who came later only to find a continually dwindling supply of gold above ground.

Enjoying the luxury his newfound wealth afforded him at age 23, this emboldened lad built an inn close to San Francisco’s harbor that developed into a hotel complete with Oriental rugs shipped from Italy. He also astutely co-owned a large vegetable farm, tapping into the needs of the fast-growing city and, later, bought railroad stocks. Taking advantage of the newly laid intercontinental railroad, he visited New York where he started relationships with several rug merchants who introduced him to the spellbinding hobby of rug collecting. This became his private passion until the end of his life.

The Grandfather

At the head of the second generation of this promising family was an only son with a delicate constitution and an equally confident attitude as his father during his early adulthood. He opted to leave San Francisco for Southern California having heard numerous stories of the regenerative quality of the dry heat and mild winters to the east of Los Angeles. Following the love of the agriculture he experienced on his father’s large vegetable plots, he soon met farmers touting the wonders of a new type of orange tree that rendered a seedless, ultra-sweet alternative to Florida oranges. He bought land and expanded numerous times. Benefiting from the cross-country railroad, in one generation navel oranges from the Central Valley outsold Florida’s national market.

This gentleman farmer began to cover the floors of his home with his dad’s Kazaks, Turkish, and Northwest Persian rugs. He soon found out that to collect new pieces, he would need to travel to Chicago, as West Coast offerings would not satisfy his appetite. Chicago proved a cornucopia, both of first-rate pieces and knowledgeable dealers, who broadened his interest to include very old pieces of all types. His rug collection was displayed in the large family home nestled in the orchards and their city house in Hollywood.

The Father

As an adolescent, the father of the seller of this collection spent most of his time at the family home. He married his teenage sweetheart whom he met at the private school they attended. She was the daughter of one of the Hollywood moguls of the era. As teens they enjoyed being around the sets and the stars. In time he became a silent investor in several very successful films. Having watched his father’s collective create a market for navel oranges and following his family’s propensity to chart new waters, this third-generation collector was involved in the promotion of his wife’s family business–the movies.

An artistic type, he eschewed the “gaudy” (his words) decors of many of his Hollywood friends, taking great pleasure in designing the rooms of his home around the spectrum of Persian floral rugs that he collected. Los Angeles and Pasadena, which now hosted a thriving Oriental rug market with which he became a regular client at the best shops. He said he bought their second oceanside home to display more of his collection.

The Daughter

We were contacted by the youngest daughter of the 4th generation, now an octogenarian, with nearly 200 remarkable pieces from the family’s collection she wished to to sell. Her daughter confided to us that she had a PhD in astrophysics and astronomy and was one of the earliest women admitted into Caltech PhD programs. From our polite inquiry into her background she remarked simply, “My love was science.” She paused and then added, “And a powerful, possibly genetic, connection to exquisite antique rugs.”

She was highly sought after to assist major projects sponsored by the university for over 40 years, and apparently “unwound from the rigors of research” by creating changing displays of the family rug collection annually. She and her husband, an investor in early digital and biotech ventures, also enjoyed picking up pieces on their numerous trips to Europe and Turkey. Her daughter, whom Jan interviewed at some length, mentioned her mother told her, “There is nothing like the epiphanies that rugs offer.” In the family tradition, she gave access to the family collection over the years to each of her children.