Hi Martin,
My Italian edition of the “Christian Oriental Carpet” is dated 1991 and I think the first original (German) one was published the year before. Plenty of time for negative “in print” reviews in Rugdom before the rise of the almighty web (and indeed in the 1998 edition the title changed to a more neutral “Oriental Carpets”). I think now the general negative opinion on Gantzhorn’s book is so well established that nobody bothers anymore with further on-line comments.
Even if I have the book translated in my mother tongue the prose is so badly expressed that it makes for very tiring reading. Nevertheless, Gantzhorn succeeded in convincing me that the Armenians should hold a more important position in the history of carpet weaving… But the blatant overdoing of his thesis destroys most of the trust he could have acquired by using a more restrained approach.
Anyway, here’s a very short on-line review of Gantzhorn’s “Oriental Carpets” (from Amazon.com): “a mildly goofy interpretation that claims Armenian Christian origin for oriental carpets, ill organized, with excruciating page layout, but the sources consulted and the rich illustration make an interesting read and as well an incredible bargain” to which I fully subscribe.
Regards,
Filiberto
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