Donna Endres, internationally recognized Oriental rug researcher and owner of Istanbul to Samarkand rug gallery in Austin, specializes in antique tribal rugs, textiles and carpets. She began her quarter-century career during a two-year cultural exchange program in Turkey, after which she continued to visit weaving centers in the Middle East and beyond. Over time, her interest in rugs and textiles expanded to include traditional weavings from other eastern hemisphere regions, along with the history of these groups. Endres conducts lectures and seminars on Oriental rugs and ethnographic weaving to rug and textile groups, including a 6-week SAGE seminar on Eastern Hemisphere rugs at the University of Texas Thompson Center. She was an invited speaker at the American Conference on Oriental Rugs in Boston in 2006. She holds a USPAP-certification with the American Society of Appraisers. She served as rug and textile appraiser at the 2012 KLRU Austin Antiques Road Show local appraisal event.
Rugs from Endres gallery decorate The University of Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies and The James A. Michener Center for Texas Writers in the J. Frank Dobie House.
Pieces from her private collection were selected to be part of the juried Hajji Baba Club 75th Anniversary Exhibition, Timbuktu to Tibet, at the New-York Historical Society Museum through September 2008, continuing at the Textile Museum, Washington D.C. through March 2009. In October 2009, an oversized 19th century Charchango, Kizil Ayak Turkmen carpet from Endres’ collection went on display as an artwork at the Blanton Museum as part of the solo U.S. exhibition of Italian Renaissance paintings, “Paolo Veronese: The Petrobelli Altarpiece” October 2009-February 2010.
A rare, antique shell bead coat from Endres’ collection, made by the Atayal people of Northern Taiwan, was recently on display in the Louvre Museum as part of the R. Wilson Collection in December 2013. A Turkmen Carpet from Endres’ collection was part of the Gregg Museum of Art, North Carolina State University exhibit, Resplendent Reds in October 2002.
Endres also oversees the care and restoration of collectible antique rugs for individuals and institutions, including rugs in the Francis Scott Key collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. As an independent researcher and appraiser, Endres catalogs and evaluates rug and textile collections, and advises clients on acquisitions and disbursements to build and shape collections and to settle estates.
Endres’ rugs and textiles are found in collections in the United States, Canada and Europe. Selected examples, as part of a collection assembled for a Hollywood actor client, were featured in the October 2003 Architectural Digest. She is listed as a Trusted Source on the widely read Oriental Rug Notes website and is a member of the specialty online salon, Turkotek. A video showing Endres’ rug gallery, collection and travels can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZT8FfyaM2s
Donna Endres
Istanbul to Samarkand
Accolade Appraisal & Consulting
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