OAKLAND, CA.- Jan David Winitz, an eminent art dealer who specializes in antique Oriental rugs, today announced that his gallery, Claremont Rug Company, had acquired a 35-piece collection from the estate of a prominent Southern banker.

Dubbed “The Carolina Cache,” the collection is comprised primarily of 19th century rugs from Northwest Persian Azerbaijan and the Central Persian Arak district. An exhibition will be mounted at the Gallery and online (www.claremontrug.com), both starting Friday, February 15.

“This 35-rug collection is a vivid example of the superb small collections that we buy whenever they become available,” Winitz said. He said that he has also recently acquired nine other groups of art-level antique Oriental rugs. These include collectible Caucasian rugs in both Montreal and Yerevan, Armenia, along with 19th century Ferahan carpets from Greenwich, CT and rare antique rugs woven using undyed camel’s hair from Pebble Beach, CA and Aspen, CO.

“Remarkably every one of the Northwest Persian antique rugs in The Carolina Cache is a standout,” said Winitz, author of The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug. “This gentleman had exquisite taste and was a highly respected art collector. He considered his antique Oriental rugs from the Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving to be an integral part of his art holdings.”

Rugs from the era from ca. 1800 to ca. 1910 are prized by rug collectors and art connoisseurs, as this was the final period before the artistry and quality of the Oriental rug weaving was compromised by commercialism.

Winitz said the most notable rugs in the Carolina Cache are high-level Persian Serapi rugs and Sultanabad carpets. “It is not difficult to understand this connoisseur’s eye as we can see his sensitivity for beauty in the pieces he exquisitely assembled,” said Winitz.

Over the last decade, Claremont has become the most notable art gallery to acquire entire private collections of connoisseur-level antique Oriental rugs from the Near East. Last summer, the Gallery acquired “The Bostonian Collection,” which was immediately heralded as one of the three most important private collection acquisitions of the decade. Consisting of total of 225 rugs, The Bostonian sold out within months.

“There is an enormous appetite among art collectors for 19th century Oriental rugs of investment-level to best of the best calibers,” said Winitz. “The opportunities for purchase come to us because we employ a full-time staff of international buyers and have a long-standing reputation within the collecting community.”