“You need to be prepared to fall madly in love” — A sixth-generation carpet dealer on balancing passion and investment 

When I call Imran Abid Mir, the sixth-generation owner of Lotto Carpets Gallery, I expect him to dial in from a company boardroom. Instead, he takes me by surprise, telling me he’s currently at a polo training camp in Argentina. Besides carpets, Imran also loves horses and the camaraderie around the sport.

He starts our conversation by sharing that he plays polo at a semi-professional level and appreciates how it “keeps me grounded and encourages me to stay humble”— qualities he brings to his profession as a carpet merchant.

As a merchant — rather than a mere trader or dealer who is traditionally only involved in buying or selling — Imran asserts that merchants also educate buyers. “I’m concerned with education and reintroducing the carpet as a woven work of art, rather than a static decorate object,” he reflects.

His paternal grandfather’s family was deeply involved in the carpet business, with successive generations operating across the Indian subcontinent, Europe, and the Americas. Eventually, the family settled in Singapore in 1981 after his father, Abid Mir, heard about the city-state’s potential for business from his friends.

“He believed (Singapore) to be a crossroads where people could enjoy this art form,” Imran adds. Imran took over the family’s business after his father’s passing in 2023. 

Today, Lotto Carpets Gallery — named after Lorenzo Lotto, a fifteenth-century Italian painter who painted carpets in his paintings, which would come to be known as Lotto carpets — remains incredibly busy as it sells both antique and modern carpets. Ahead, we speak to Imran about the value of carpets, his educational approach to business, how to start a carpet collection, and carpets’ investment potential.

A steady investment

Over the past decade, several significant carpet sales have reflected an appetite for fine, high-quality carpets. These include the Clark Sickle-Leaf carpet, which Sotheby’s New York auctioned for an eye-watering US$33.8 million ($45.05 million) in 2013, and a 17th-century Mughal pashmina carpet, which Christie’s London sold for £5.4 million ($9.27 million) in 2022 — far above the initial estimate of £2.5 million to £3.5 million. 

“The sky’s the limit with things like that because you don’t see them anymore,” Imran explained. According to Imran, these antique carpets — usually referring to those from the 19th century and before — cannot be replaced as “many traditional dyeing and production techniques have been lost to history.” 

While these exorbitant prices are usually attributed to one-of-a-kind antiques, Imran shares that high-quality modern carpets enjoy value growth. Based on his observations and experience, this usually equates to a seven per cent per annum increase “at the very least.” Carpet prices could double every 10 years, though other factors, such as category, condition, rarity, quality, and demand, come into play. 

Regarding quality, it’s essential to keep a few factors in mind. Firstly, a carpet’s knot density is crucial to calculating a carpet’s value. Like thread count in fabrics, knot density refers to the number of knots present per square inch in the carpet. “Like the number of megapixels in a camera, (the more), the better,” Imran comments. 

Other key factors to consider include how oil-rich the carpet’s wool is; the complexity of the carpet’s design, noting aspects such as colour combinations and shapes; the finishing, which includes ensuring the carpet’s fringes and edges are firm and won’t fray; and the dye’s “steadfast” ability to resist spillage.

But in a world where others might choose to invest in fine art or luxury goods — with well-maintained Chanel bags rising in value by over 10 per cent each year — why might one even consider investing in carpets? 

Imran candidly states this choice is ultimately based on “whatever tickles your fancy.” A person might want to spend fifty thousand dollars on a single horse gene or a handbag, but he believes “it genuinely boils down to what will create a conversation that you’re going to enjoy, based on your background and friendship circles”.

He suggests watch enthusiasts “should definitely” look into collecting carpets, as both objects can be appreciated “hand-in-hand” for their subtlety.

A carpet of one’s own

Historically, royalty and nobility collected carpets. Henry VIII owned several hundred Turkish rugs, while Cornelius Vanderbilt and Sigmund Freud boasted Persian rug collections. But today, you don’t need to be a monarch to enjoy such exquisite objects in your home. Imran has plenty of advice for those looking to start their carpet collections.

“My advice for beginners is to come to me,” Imran grins, noting that connecting with and learning from reputable experts is paramount.

He also advises prospective collectors to educate themselves by visiting museums with celebrated carpet and tapestry collections, such as Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Reike Museum in the Netherlands. “(Learning about carpets is) a sea of knowledge, and you can either sink or swim,” Imran comments sagely, “You need to be prepared to fall madly in love.” 

With the current economic downturn leading to lower carpet prices, Imran acknowledges that it might be an “amazing time” to begin carpet collecting. However, he encourages potential collectors to resist impulse purchases, believing that loving the carpet is more important than snagging a good deal.

Believing one should collect carpets out of appreciation rather than solely their financial value, Imran muses that the joys of collecting include its ability to bring people together. “Getting a top-tier museum-grade carpet is one thing, only to lock it away in your basement (as an investment).

But it’s another thing to enjoy with your friends and family and have it be a topic of conversation,” he smiles.