Greetings.

This seemed the most likely spot to put this. Tonight I had the first class of the NYU extension course in Fine Oriental Rugs. It was great! Most of what we covered in tne introductory meeting tonight I was familiar with. But the teacher talked about dyes a bit and all round it was very informative and the teacher seems a lively sort and I think it will be great Plus it was great to be in a storeroom with so many carpets that aren't mine! And to see some really cool pieces. This is going to be great.

The class was eight of us. All 45 years and up I'd say. Probably people who want to appraise their own rugs or just lear for their own edification. Although we didn't introduce ourselves or any of that, which you normally do in adult classes. The class ias 90min, for five sessions, which does not leave much room for chit chat and "getting-to-know-you" stuff, which is fine. I'm there for his expertise, not to learn about the other students. Yesterday we looked at a "fourth quarter" 19th century Persian kilim that was about 6X14. Nice, but it had wear and was not spectacular. We looked at a couple of others and briefly examined some examples with different types of dyes. This I think will be highly valuable for me. I already see there will be changes in my buying habits going forward. The clientele I plan on reaching, for now, will be looking for something aeasthetic. As my education and expertise grows, so will the pieces I carry. For now, I am still delighted with what I have. It was interesting what he was saying about pricing. He said standard was 150% markup, but that depending on where you were, 1000% markup was normal.

I know this from the decorating scene too when I worked with designers and antique hunters who bought great pieces for individual clients' homes. They (the clients) relied on our vision of what was great, however "great" was determined). We never lied about the provenance of anything, nor made up a story. When there was an interesting story to tell, and a real story, we told it. If a piece was important, we eplained that too. But if after weeks of hunting for just the right quirky pieces for someone's home, and finding it, we charged according to the price of the piece, as well as our time, our expertise and vision, and the overal scheme of the project. So yes, we made good money, and the clients were always delighted. I think the same holds true for rugs that may not be museum pieces but people fall in love with. And I am not talking about 1000% markup. But what the market will bear in an off center industry track, such as I will be paddling around in.

Also, we have been assigned to go to the Christie's show on Tuesday, so I am going to go down and preview. I work just 2 blocks from their showrooms.