Dedham, MA- On Monday, September 14th at 6:00 p.m. Grogan and Company will offer at auction the private collection of Rugs, Textiles and Books from Private Collection of Myrna Bloom, Artist • Oriental Rug & Textile Collector-Bookseller; as well as Kurdish Rugs and Weavings from the Collection of Ambassador William Eagleton. A fully illustrated catalogue can be viewed at www.groganco.com.
Painter and sculptor Myrna Bloom began studying Oriental rugs in 1969, after trading one of her paintings to a well-known rug dealer in her home town of Philadelphia for a “collector” rug. Her collection quickly expanded to include textiles and clothing from the Islamic world to the Far East. She followed the well-known practice of buying a related book each time she acquired a rug, animal trapping, Kashmir “shawl,” or other textile treasure, and developed an extensive library.
Bookseller Myrna Bloom, The EAST-WEST ROOM, began in 1980, taking its name from her 1972 oil painting THE EAST-WEST ROOM, which depicts her living room replete with Oriental rugs and textiles in detail and combining Eastern with Western perspective.
Over the years, Myrna has exhibited her collection and given several lectures for such organizations as the International Questers, The New York Rug Society, the First International Rug Convention and The Textile Museum of Washington D.C. She has written and contributed to several articles for periodicals including Hali Magazine, Oriental Rug Review and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Bloom’s original one-page book inventory had about 100 titles and was mailed to about as many people. It grew to an internet website of about 7,500 titles, with a continually changing inventory of about 15,000 total items. Myrna has moved from her spacious house in Pennsylvania to a smaller Florida residence that can not accomodate her collection. She has a wealth of good memories from her years in the rug world.
Ambassador William Eagleton, one of the State Departments specialists on the Middle East, has distinguished his career both in the Foreign Service and with the United Nations. In the Foreign Service he served in Spain, Syria, Iraq, Mauritania, London, South Yemen, Algeria and Libya, retiring in Syria as the American Ambassador. His UN career included Vienna, Sarajevo and the Western Sahara. In 2003, before his final retirement, he was advisor to the US Department of Defense in Northern Iraq.
Mr. Eagleton is a graduate of Yale University, class of 1948. He attended the Paris Institute of Political Studies and holds a Master of Public Policy Degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton. His languages include French, Spanish, and Arabic having attended the Foreign Service Institute Arabic Language training in Morocco and Tunisia.
In addition to his diplomatic accomplishments, Ambassador Eagleton is a highly respected specialist on the subject of Kurdish Culture and Rugs. He published two books including The Kurdish Republic of 1946 and Kurdish Rugs and Other Weavings.
Grogan & Company is pleased to be offering items from these two prominent collections.