Wendel Swan Chair, Executive Committee ICOC

One of the great collectors and experts is Wendel Swan of Alexandria Virginia. Wendel is ever his own man and that sets him apart. You can love him or not but only a fool would not respect him. I have mentioned him in other articles but it seems like it is time to revisit a man who is friend and teacher. We have not always agreed on many things but as I grow older I respect him all the more.

Michael Buddeberg, Alberto Boralevi, Wendel Swan, Dennis Dodds, Peter Bichler, Anette Granlund

Above we see Wendel with friends at the festivities leading up to the opening of the new Textile Museum in Washington DC. Wendel was part of the heat and soul of the Board of Trustees of the TM that saved the TM from ruin. At one point I believed that the glory days of the TM were long past. There were some very dark days for the Museum. Wendel with Bruce Baganz and others charted a bold course that looks to insure that the best days of the Textile Museum are still to come.

Here we see Wendel with his beautiful and charming wife Diane. The young fellow on the right is Robert Torchia had been a Curator at Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, Florida who wrote some important work on Oriental Rugs.

 

Ming Dais Cover from the Swan Collection

This piece was a very memorable part of the Swan collection. In part because of its beauty and rarity and partially because it sold for multiples of its high estimate at auction. 

The Wendel R. Swan Cruciform Sumac Shahsavan Bag

Another typical piece from the Swan collection is this bag, Typical in that many authorities consider it best of type. Wendel has great discernment and an eye for color.

Alberto Boralevi, Wendel Swan and Bruce Baganz

Wendel has been deeply involved in making things better in so many ways. As president of the International Hajji Baba Swan was able to heal the rift and reunite the Washington DC area rug clubs. Raising the club to new heights sadly for the club he stepped down to let the group fall into relative irrelevance. But he did so to give him time to rescue the TM and continue the important work of the ICOC.

Robert Pinner and Wendel Swan

Wendel was a great friend and worked for years with the late Robert Pinner on the ICOC the International Conference on Oriental Carpets. The ICOC is the closest thing the field of Oriental Rugs has to a scholarly assembly. It does much to raise he level of scholarship and discourse in the field of Oriental Rugs.

It as a sad day indeed when I received this message from Wendel:

Date:	Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:26:35 -0500
From:	"Wendel and Diane Swan"
Subject:	Robert Pinner

Dear Friends,

With a sense of deep personal loss, I must report that Robert Pinner 
passed away peacefully at his home in Twickenham last night.

As the founder of ICOC, the co-founder of Hali and as a tireless energy 
behind both until just recently, his influence on the world of carpets 
and textiles has been enormous. Those of us who worked with him became 
infected by his enthusiasm and benefited from his generosity. We also 
endured, from time to time, the wrath of his extraordinarily keen mind. 
 That was his nature. That is why we loved him. We have lost a dear 
friend.

Wendel Swan

One strong defender of Wendel Swan was his friend Harold Keshishian. I remember one time a mutual friend was unkind in a comment about Wendel and Harold firmly put him in his place. I also remember how concerned he was at one point about Wendel's health despite the fact that HK was himself dying.

If someone wanted to meet Wendel San there is no better place then to come to

The next major ICOC event will be 6 – 9 August 2015

13th ICOC in Washington DC

Wendel R. Swan (USA) Chair, Executive Committee

All of this is my idea and done without Wendel's knowledge or permission. If he finds fault I will correct or delete. Some pictures I had and some borrowed from R. John Howe