OAKLAND, CA.- For the seventh consecutive year, eminent art dealer Jan David Winitz, whose Claremont Rug Company gallery specializes in museum-level Oriental carpets from the “Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,” has mounted an exhibition of the “Best of Their Type” 19th century Persian and tribal rugs sold during the previous year.

A total of 50 Second Golden Age antique rugs woven ca. 1800 to ca. 1875 in a variety of Persian and Caucasian weaving styles, acquired by Claremont’s global clientele, will be displayed for a limited time on the Gallery’s website (https://www.claremontrug.com/50-best-of-their-type-2017/ ).

This year’s list includes several pieces from the renowned “Toronto Treasury II Collection” that was acquired by the Gallery in 2017 and sold in a private event for Claremont clients in the fall. Many of the pieces were purchased by buyers who viewed them in a private gallery on the Claremont website (www.claremontrug.com).

“Last year’s exhibition was viewed online by visitors from 55 countries,” said Winitz, author of ‘The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug.’ “That is nearly a 60 percent increase over past years. Our website, which contains more than 900 high-res images, has become a primary method for clients to view our inventory.

“Overall, in 2017, we saw an increase of 41 percent in sales generated over the internet. Many of our clients own multiple residences internationally, limiting their occasions to visit our Gallery in person. To accommodate them, we have recently completed a two-year revamping of our website and devoted much of it to client education.”

The 2017 highlights include

• A 200-year-old, 12 x 12, Bakshaish with an extremely rare elemental design,

• A series of five extraordinary finely woven Persian city rugs in the increasingly difficult to obtain Mohtasham Kashan style and

• 10 entirely one-in-the-world, early Caucasian rugs including examples from the increasingly sought after Karagashli, Baku and Bidjov Shivran weaving groups.

In past years, Winitz had cited two trends among his clients: an increase in the use of antique Oriental rugs as wall art and employment of carpets as “space dividers,” particularly in contemporary homes which have larger rooms and few interior walls. “I can report,” he said, “that these are no longer trends, they are primary reasons for rug acquisition.”

Winitz, who has clients on five continents including more than 75 Forbes’ List billionaires, also noted that all of the rugs in the exhibit are either “museum-level” or “high-collectible,” the top tiers in Claremont’s proprietary, six-tier Oriental Rug Market Pyramid©, (http://www.claremontrug.com/antique-rugs-information/collecting/the-oriental-rug-market-pyramid-new/) which classifies rugs by their rarity and collectability as fine art and antiques.

Founded by Winitz and his wife, Christine, in 1980, Claremont Rug Company has amassed an inventory comprised of more than 3500 art-level Oriental rugs acquired privately by the Gallery through its extensive team of global buyer/collectors. “We have unprecedented access to rugs from long-established private rug collections through our global network that seeks out rugs of great beauty, unquestionable rarity and provenance,” he said.

Carpets in the Claremont inventory are valued from $10,000 to more than $500,000 per carpet. The exhibition will run online through February 28, 2018.