OAKLAND, CA.- For the sixth 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,” today opened an online exhibition of “Best-of-the-Best” 19th century Persian and tribal rugs sold during 2016.

A total of 50 Second Golden Age antique rugs woven ca. 1800 to ca. 1875 in a variety of Persian and Caucasian weaving styles will be displayed for a limited time on the Gallery’s website.

This year’s list includes several from the renowned “Toronto Treasury,” a family-held collection of rare Oriental rugs that was acquired by the Gallery in early 2016 and sold in a private event for Claremont clients during the fall. Many of the pieces were acquired by buyers who viewed them in a private gallery on the Claremont website

“Our clients lead incredibly busy lives,” said Winitz, author of The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug, “and often own multiple residences internationally, limiting their opportunities to visit the Gallery in person. Our website, which contains more than 900 high-res images, has become a primary method for clients to view our inventory. At the same time, the website also allows them to ‘visit’ our annual Best of the Best exhibition. Antique rug enthusiasts frequently comment that it is one of the year’s highlights for them.”

The 2016 highlights included:

• Persian Mohtasham Kashan, (7’9” x 10’8”), second quarter, 19th century
• Two one-in-the world Persian Bakshaish rugs, both circa 1825
• Caucasian “Eagle Kazak” (4’10” x 8’8”), mid-19th century

Winitz pointed out two trends among those acquiring these masterpieces. “While women have always been important in the decision-making process,” he said, “this year a majority of buyers were women who are the central rug collector in the family. And more clients than ever purchased the rugs to use as part of ‘Whole Home Displays.’”

Winitz added, “Our clients have discerning eyes and understand the artistic merit and financial value of these precious tangible assets. Claremont, which has clients on five continents including more than 75 Forbes’ List billionaires, does not appear in off-site exhibitions or shows and only displays its inventory at the Gallery, online or in client residences.

Winitz, whose biography appears on Wikipedia, 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‘s inventory is 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, 2017.