Brochure Ab Collection 2

The Abadjian Collection

200 Lexington Avenue Suite 1001 New York NY 10016 phone:

212.683.2043

fax:

212.683.2082

e-mail:

[email protected]

To The Trade

2

600 C Khotan (Actual size pictured 9.10x12.7)

642 CFE Light Bessarabian (Actual size pictured 10x13.10)

ensures us that our carpets are unique, authentic and something that we are proud to create. True to their origins, the carpets of The Abadjian Collection are hand-woven with the finest wool. The foundation threads are a handknotted blend of cotton and wool, allowing both the soft hand of the well-loved antique and the durability that will allow these carpets to be passed onto generations to come. From the relaxed rhythm of a Bessarabian of the Ukraine to the exquisitely detailed poetry of a Persian Tabriz... From the quiet beauty of an Indian Agra to the strength of a Nomadic Bakshaeish... The Abadjian Collection is the contemporary source for historical carpet art. 3 Agra (10x14)

3

520 E Bessarabian (Actual size pictured 12x15.5)

The Abadjian Collection

Timeless elegance, historical integrity, old world craftsmanship and a lifelong commitment to the classic beauty of the handmade carpet are the cornerstones of The Abadjian Collection. Historically carpets were woven in villages, by families, in traditions passed from generation to generation. With great respect to these bygone days and people, our intent is to create the venue in which their art can live on. We have taken these carpets and insist upon recreating them with the same spirit, technique and love of their original creators. Our artisans first transfer historical designs by handpainting life-size cartoons just as their predecessors of old did. They pass these paintings to the weavers who transform wool into an unparalleled art form. Virtually owning all of our production from the spinning of the wool to the final combing of the carpet,

4

501 a Tamboura (Actual size pictured 8x10)

643 grCF Savonnerie (Actual size pictured 12x14.8)

5

524 Savonnerie (9x11.7)

571 d Bessarabian Antique (10.6x13.10)

599 CDk Axminster (Actual size pictured 9.8x13.4)

182 bW Lahore (Actual size pictured 9x12)

647 CF (Actual size pictured 9.9x13)

559 a Seville (Actual size pictured 9x12)

601 NSE Khotan (Actual size pictured 7.5x8.6)

The Abadjian Collection 6

The Abadjian Collection is the culmination of an arduous forty year career of the noted antique dealer and carpet maker, Berdj M. Abadjian. It is also the story of an artistic dream come true.

638 CF Bessarabian (9X12)

Berdj Abadjian was born in Bucharest, Romania, to Armenian parents. By the age of 22 he had risen to the position of President of a carpet weaving factory, which under his leadership grew to be the largest exporter of Romanian carpets, employing 1800 weavers.

7

THE STORY...

A few years later (1963), he found himself penniless in America, a refugee from the dogmatic Communism that became the unbearable price of his success in Bucharest. He began his life again as a carpet repair man in Chicago. With his artistic sensibility for balance and design and an unerring eye for color, Abadjian quickly rose to prominence among American antique carpet dealers. In a few shorts years he became a major marketer on an international scale. His name became synonymous with the finest carpets always purchasing with great aggressiveness pieces that he felt brought weaving to the level of high art. Abadjian is the only dealer in history who has had a carpet named after him, The “Abadjian Star Kazak” (approx. size 5 x 7), which Sotheby’s sold for $291,500, record price for a Caucasian rug. But Abadjian’s career as America’s foremost antique carpet dealer came to an end on New Year's Eve of 1990 when his showroom was ravaged by fire. Strangely enough, instead of despair over this seeming catastrophe, Abadjian felt somewhat relieved and in fact elated.

Troubled in a business in which he could find few pieces he felt a passion for, his dissatisfaction grew as he saw it increasingly difficult to find wonderful pieces to satisfy his standards and the needs of the top designers who were his clients. He began to tinker with painting and writing poetry which often took the form of philosophical aphorisms. The final phase of this great career, ironically enough, came full circle in Romania. The political changes that liberated Romania in the Christmas of 1989 helped inspire his new vision. This was the perfect stage for Abadjian to help his people to rebuild on the ashes of Communism. In the spring of 1994, Abadjian returned to his birthplace, Bucharest, Romania, to create the great carpets of his imagination; to create great carpets again at the end of the 20th century; carpets that could no longer be found and some that have never been imagined. All the carpets of The Abadjian Collection are hand woven on looms which he owns and supervises daily. Not since the inception of the Savonnerie looms in 1673 has there been a hand weaving enterprise of such scope and intensity, where artisan and artist are joined so intimately. Berdj Abadjian lives and breathes his carpets from start to finish. He conceptualizes the design, completely supervises the selection of the wool and the dyeing and oversees the actual weaving on the loom, sometimes working an 18 hour day. The goal behind this magnificent commitment is to eventually produce the greatest carpets this century has seen. For those who know Berdj Abadjian as the monumental dealer of antiques, it is already a given that the new production of the Abadjian looms will be one the high points in the history of carpet making.

8

589 CFE-571 Bessarabian (Actual size pictured 8.6x11.9)

565 L Agra (Actual size pictured 9x12)

9

531 aE Axminister (Actual size pictured 12.11x14.9) 521 CF Vasi (12.1x15.3)

525a Polonaise (9x12)

597 TEW Bessarabian Antique (Actual size pictured 10x14)

10

103 w Amritsar (9x12)

574 a Agra (10x14)

6 NEDk Bessarabian (Actual size pictured 10x13.7)

11

575 CN Spanish (10.2x13.4)

12

604 CW Cuenca (Actual size pictured 9.1x11.7)

223 bW Amritsar (Actual size pictured 9.11x13.9)

13

605 CSE Khotan (Actual size pictured 8.2x9.2) 636 CF (Actual size pictured 10x13.1)

14

588 sCF Garden Tabriz (Actual size pictured 8.11x10.2)

641 E Ukrainian (11x13)

15

We deliver custom orders in convenient time

“In my imagination color creates design, just as the body shapes a dress. Although design is very important, I like to feel it like many notes of music. It's not the notes or who plays the violin that's important to the eye, but the ballerina who will express the music. Color is the ballerina.” Berdj Abadjian

“I paint with wool. I prepare the palette of colors for each carpet I make. Our carpets are like chamber music, not rock music. Our audience is very sophisticated. They'll hear the off colors. They'll see the wrong notes.”

The Bessarabian Flat Weave Collection Traditionally, carpets from Eastern Europe are identified as "Bessarabian" (Romania). Nestled between Romania and Ukraine, in the heart of the European continent, is the Republic of Moldovia. Once known as Bessarabia, which was wrested away from Romania in 1940 by Stalin. The production, 18th and early 19th century, was primarly in workshops established estates or within villages. The designs were of unique characteristics combining French style and neoclassic elements along with native folk art.

16

Unlike other manufacturers claiming Bessarabian reproduction, producing inferior quality in China and abroad, The Abadjian Collection continues a time-honored tradition, creating Bessarabian design carpets from the country of origin. Mr. Abadjian is inspired by the same uniquely defined native folkart and adapting this idea with today's décor in mind. Influenced by the old world weavers of Bessarabia (Romania), to transform wool into an unparalleled art form.

914 Bessarabian flat weave (Actual size pictured 15.9x28)

17

900 L Bessarabian flat weave (Actual size pictured 11.7x16.8)

18

915 a Bessarabian flat weave (Actual size pictured 12.3x15.2)

911 b Bessarabian flat weave (Actual size pictured 11.7x15)

19

905 a Bessarabian White flat weave (Actual size pictured 13.8x19.2) 901 Adams flat weave (Actual size pictured 9x13)

Catalogue designed and printed in Europe by EuroPRINT +40 722 589 465

Not since the inception of the Savonnerie looms in 1673 has there been a hand weaving enterprise of such intensity. Poetry in Action Collection by Berdj Abadjian carpets is hand woven on looms, which are owned and supervised by Mr. Abadjian. Custom orders are welcomed and encouraged, custom size, color and Antique reproductions are worked on in record time of 3 months for a 12 x 18 size.

573 a Tabriz (10x14)

623 CF Bessarabian (10.1x13.4)

The Abadjian Collection