Council carpet going under hammer

AN antique carpet worth thousands of pounds has been put up for auction by Henley Town Council.

The Pedestal, an auction house in Stonor, has consigned a large Ushak carpet that was originally in the Mayor’s Parlour in the town hall.

The carpet, which had been held in storage at the town hall, has a guide price of between £10,000 and £15,000 and is currently up for auction online until just after 5pm next Thursday.

The council’s finance strategy and management committee agreed to the sale because the carpet was not being used.

The carpet has been identified as a late 19th-century Ushak carpet from West Anatolia in Turkey and measures 606cm by 366cm, which is considered larger than average.

Ushak carpets use a particular family of designs. Common motifs include medallions, stars and various geometric patterns. They also incorporate natural elements such as vines, leaves and palmettes.

The carpets get their name from the city of Usak in West Anatolia, which was a major centre of rug production from the early days of the Ottoman Empire.

Guy Savill, one of the directors at the Pedestal, said the rug was one of the largest the auction house had ever dealt with.

Mr Savill, who previously worked as the UK director of furniture and works of art at Bonhams, said it was rare to come across a carpet of both that age and size.

He said: “This is probably the biggest late 19th century carpet we have sold. A lot of carpets of that sort of age haven’t survived.

“Big room size carpets are rare because often they were made in relatively small numbers, and obviously there was a point in time where they got very worn and the market wasn’t there for them so they were disposed of by people.

“If you wanted to buy a late 19th century Ushak of a smaller size it’s not going to be cheap but would be cheaper than this. This is at this sort of price point because of its unusual size.”

Mr Savill explained that Ushak carpets were popular on the market due to their “contemporary” colour pallette and thick wool weave.

The carpets traditionally use Angora wool, known for its silky texture, brilliance and longer fleece than average wool. He said: “Ushak carpets generally are reasonably commercial and they are something the market responds quite well to.

“Where Ushak differs from Persian carpets, which dominate the market certainly for antique carpets, is that they offer a different colour palette.

“Although they are from the 19th century or early 20th century, they often offer a more contemporary colour palette so it blends better with contemporary interiors.

“It’s a sort of noticeable move away from the sort of colours you see in Persian carpets. You will get colours that are really quite unusual in Ushak carpets.

“The other thing you get with Ushak carpets is that they are a different weave. And what you end up with is a thicker pile, so they feel rather more luxurious.

“So when you are walking on it, it provides more cushioning than a conventional Persian carpet might.”

The rug from the Mayor’s Parlour features shades of orange and dark teal which Mr Savill said you would struggle to find in a Persian carpet of a similar age. He said the rug had signs of light wear but was in relatively good condition.

Mr Savill said that for buyers, this was often not a problem. “Often the market for room-size antique carpets can be very accepting of light wear as it gives that sort of country house feel,” he said.

“Although wear generally on most antiques isn’t particularly desirable, there is a sort of a fashion trend for light wear on big room-size carpets just because it gives that lovely period feel that often people or decorators are trying to achieve.”

The Pedestal was founded in 2016 by a team of senior London specialists.

After holding a number of pop-up auctions, it moved to a fixed premises at The Dairy on the Stonor Park estate in 2020.

It works with a variety of collectors, dealers, decorators and curators from around the world. It specialises in fine and early oak furniture, sculpture, silver, ceramics, rugs, fine art, lighting, clocks, and Oriental works of art.