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A Munich Jubilee
This year Hans-Jürgen Krausse's regular autumn
exhibition of collector rugs is of special significance,
as it marks his 10th anniversary as an internationally
known gallery owner in the heart of the Bavarian capital,
Munich.
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Jubiläumsaustellung
Seltene Arbeiten asiatischer Knüpf- und
Webkunst XV
Maximiliansplatz 15, Munich, Germany
23 October - 25 November 2000
On 20 October 1990, Hans Jürgen
Krausse, one of the most instantly recognisable
figures on the international rug scene, opened
the doors of his Munich gallery, to specialise
in both pile- and flatwoven works of art made
by tribal and village people of the Orient
(HALI 54, P.183). At the time, our reviewer
cautioned him about the formidable strength
of local competition, but ten years and fifteen
exhibitions later (from 1990-1995 he held
both spring and autumn shows), he has built
a solid international reputation among collectors
for high quality 18th and 19th century rugs
of all types, while major competition has
left town. |
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Ersari
Turkmen main carpet (detail) middle Amu Darya
region, late 18th or 19th century. 1,80 x
2,80 m (5'11'' x 9'2'') |
An economist and archaeologist by training,
Krausse, a native Nuremberger, caught what he
describes as the 'rug virus' while still a student
at the age of 19, and spent fifteen years as
a collector before throwing his hat into the
ring as a fully fledged dealer. As a private
collector, like so many before him he first
succumbed to the immediate appeal of the powerful
graphics of Caucasian rugs, before falling in
love with Shahsavan weavings. Some of those
early acquisitions still remain in his home,
but today his commercial range is much broader
and more thoughtful, encompassing Chinese and
East Turkestan material. Persian tribal rugs,
Anatolian and Caucasian pieces. Above all else
he is known as a dealer with a particular specialisation
in Turkmen rugs and trappings, which have been
his first priority in exhibitions since the
mid-1990s. |
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Shahsavan
mafrash side panel, northwest Persia, second
half 19th century. 0,88 x 0,60 m (2'11'' x
2'0'')
Tekke Turkmen
torba, first half 19th century. 0,95 x 0,43
m (3'11'' x 1'5'')
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Among the pieces
in his anniversary show, which will have a strong
Turkmen flavour, are a Tekke six-gül torba
(below left) with well-spaced main and secondary
ornaments, unusual gül centres, details
in an extraordinary shade of blue and a rare
border also seen on a twelve-gül piece
in Wie Blumen in der Wüste (pl.26).
Then there is an idiosyncratic Ersari main carpet
(detail above) in which the secondary field
ornament is so inconspicuous that it serves
to focus all the viewer's attention on the octagonal
primary göls, with their kochak-cross centres
surrounded by well articulated tauk nuska animals.
Other interesting Turkmens include a Yomut family
(Karadashli?) chuval, and a Yomut trapping which
has been sensitively restored since being published
by Cassin & Hoffmeister (Tent Band, Tent
Bag, no.12).
Representing Krausse's continuing attraction
to Shahsavan work is a splendid small sumakh
mafrash side panel (above left) with a design
perhaps more readily associated with pilewoven
bags, and a rare complete all-silk miniature
presentation khorjin on which, like all similar
pieces (no more than about half a dozen are
known), the black dyes are less than perfectly
bonded with the silk.
In what is nowadays called a "mission statement",
Krausse explains that he believes in doing business
in a calm and deliberate manner, keeping his
acquisitions within his means, controlling his
costs and paying his debts. He has no desire
to dominate the Munich scene. He may be the
tallest rug dealer in the world, but for Hans-Jürgen
Krausse small is definitely beautiful. |
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