St. Paul Pioneer Press | 02/16/2005 | Rugs woven into life of collector

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 02/16/2005 | Rugs woven into life of collector: "Posted on Wed, Feb. 16, 2005

Rugs woven into life of collector
Enthusiast imports hundreds for fun
BY MARY BAUER
Pioneer Press
For the last three years, Tory Ferrey has been on a magic carpet ride.

Since stumbling across an online rug dealer who was not only legit but cheap, the White Bear Lake woman has been on a buying spree, acquiring 600 tribal Persian rugs that she pores over like an archaeologist.

Ferrey and a friend have sold some rugs to raise money for charity and plan another sale this spring.

"I wasn't getting my fix at the rug stores," Ferrey said. "I see more rugs this way."

Her binge may be coming to an end, because her Iranian dealer is going out of business. She knows little about him but, from the pattern of his offerings, guesses he was emptying a warehouse, selling the more recent rugs first. Over the years, he sold Ferrey rugs, saddle bags and salt bags for as little as $16.

Rugs are exempt from U.S. restrictions on trade with Iran.

"If I found another source as good as him, I'd continue to do it," said Ferrey, a paraprofessional with the Mahtomedi School District.

As it is, her stash overflowed her house. Half of her rugs are stored at the home of Deb Lauer, who also works with the Mahtomedi district.

"She was keeping them in her garage," Lauer said, "which looked like good mice nesting."

Ferrey, who also weaves, started buying rugs so she could learn to repair them. Instead, she fell in love with the story that each rug tells.

Of the three basic types of rugs from the region — workshop, nomadic and village — Ferrey prefers the latter two, which are tribal rugs, because they offer a better glimpse of daily life.

"There are just so many personalities represented, so many styles," Lauer said.

Women usually make tribal rugs, Ferrey said, and they are an important source of currency for a family. She fingers the fringe on one rug, noting the color variations.

"I can actually see the colors of sheep she had in her herd," she said.

Serious collectors aren't much interested in rugs made after 1930, but Ferrey is drawn to the evolution of rugs in the modern era. She revels in pieces that show the merging of a nomadic culture with life in the city.

"I'm more interested in the people making the rugs," she said. "The detail (of modern rugs) is more fun, more funky."

For example, a 1950s rug depicts a stylish lady with a short skirt, high heels and a purse. Another rug of a beauty with three chins is homely by American standards, but Ferrey and Lauer learned to love her.

"I get to see what people don't normally get to see," Ferrey said.

Because she's interested more in research than actual value, she often buys rugs and bags worn or stained from use. Then she bones up on the rug's symbols, weaving techniques and what it says about the time in which it was made.

For example, Afghan war rugs depict the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Images of tanks, AK-47s, grenade launchers and bullet borders seem out of place on a Persian rug, but they show how tribal peoples view war, she said.

"They're trying really hard to graphically copy what they're seeing," Ferrey said.

The two women have hosted several charitable rug sales, in which buyers cut one check for the cost of the rugs and another to causes such as tsunami relief and rebuilding in Afghanistan.

But even when it's for a good cause, they have trouble letting go. Deb's husband, Jim Hunt, said as the two women prepare for a sale, there's a fair amount of second-guessing, in which at the last minute they roll a few specimens back up and cart them off to their cars.

"They carry on like they were selling their first-born child," he said.

RUG SALE

Tory Ferrey and Deb Lauer are planning another sale in March or April to aid a local church's charity efforts. For details, e-mail Lauer at lauerhunt@comcast.net.

A close-up photo reveals the detailed work that goes into the handmade tribal Persian rugs collected by White Bear Lake resident Tory Ferrey. "I love the people," she says. "The different tribes and different energies of the rugs.""