About the presenter

After retiring at 60 from the antiques industry, Russ Scheider became a collector and dealer of tribal rugs and folk art. This is the third separate collection of rugs that Mr. Scheider has amassed in his lifetime. He is eager to share his knowledge and expertise with anyone who shares his love for antiques and fine art.

Mr. Scheider will discuss the transition of tribal rugs, from their origins in the Middle East to the cottage industry it has become today.

As Mr. Scheider will address, rug weaving was the primary occupation of women in Middle Eastern nomadic tribes. Wool was provided by their flocks and was woven on small looms that could be easily transported from one seasonal home to another. The transition to the current industry came in the twentieth century, when the Shahs of the Middle East encouraged the nomads to settle.

“This strategy has been fairly successful” Mr. Scheider explains. “The women weave on permanent looms with other women of the tribe. Today most of the rugs made at home are made for the marketplace. These rugs are woven with more uniform patterns instead of the more whimsical decorations of generations ago”.