Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing
It's a pretty piece. General info about the rug: KPSI is pretty high, somewhere around 650+ from this one photo, although it should really be sampled from several areas of the rug. I just had an opportunity to see these very quickly, but at a first glance what I can say right off the bat is the following. Assuming the rug is
true silk, and that it is a rug from Iran and not a knock off from China, I don't think you did horrible. The rug has been subjected to a chemical wash similar to a "
golden wash", which is somewhat unusual for silk rugs in general. The area you mentioned as having a "discoloration" is actually the original colors of the rug, which may have been covered by a tag, or possibly not affected by the dyes due to a stain. The rug probably had very bright colors. Some of these newer Qum rugs do, and are just not easily sold in the American Market. I would not be surprised if other select areas of the rug have come out similar. Main point, the discoloration is not that area, but everything around it. Not saying anything bad about the rug, because it does have decorative value and it is a very pretty piece, but it has some "issues" from a value standpoint other than the discoloration. First there is some creasing, this probably is due to a poor drying process, rolled up too soon while still wet, OR, (and this is not good), permanent tension change within the rug resulting from the wash.
I'm not saying you didn't get a good deal... In fact I really don't think you did "horrible" provided the wrinkles come out. But I think this is pretty much what would be considered
close to a "sale price". What I can say, just as reference, is the "
Retail Prices" (
reminds me of this article)on that rug are almost insulting to me. Again, I don't think you did horrible with this piece, but I think this practice of inflating prices for the public is aweful. With many, many mentors over the years including my own experience, this kind of practice is bs.
