Design New England, September/October 2008
Arts & Antiques
FAR EAST, CLOSE TO HOME
Asian, Indian, and Islamic antiques emporium Sarajo finds a modern new storefront in an old Portland, Maine, building
Written and Produced by MOLLY JANE QUINN
Photography by SCOTT DORRANCE
FOR MORE THAN 15 YEARS, SARAJO (PRONOUNCED serah-HO) EXISTED AS A GRITTY TREASURE CHEST for top-notch Asian, Indian, and Islamic antiques in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, replete with low light and hidden nooks galore. But with Saraio’s new incarnation in Portland, Maine, the downtown trove of tribal textiles and furniture has risen like a phoenix—a sleek, modern, all-white version.
THE ENTRANCE TO SARAJO is dominated by a mid-20th-century East Indian carved teak canopy bed accented with inset etched glass circles in the footboard.
Sarajo’s Israel-born owner, Yosi Barzilai started collecting ethnic textiles while studying at New York’s Pratt Institute in the 1970s. After building an international reputation as the go-to man for quality imported art, clothing, and furniture (his shop’s clients included everyone from celebrity model Kale Moss to fashion designer Miuccia Prada to interior designer Michael S. Smith), Barzilai realized that more and more sales were happening online. Expensive SoHo storefronts didn’t seem necessary anymore.
"It’s actually easier for people to see the fabrics," says Barzilai of the move to the Web. "Before, we would have to pull out all these pieces and lay them out, and now [buyers] can just look at them online in detail."
THE TEXTILE ROOM features built-in shelving and a carved teak Indian takhat table for rolling out fabrics for clients. A staircase leads to the loft office.
Barzilai relocated to Portland in 2007 with his partner Grant Lindsey, and their two young children after a nationwide search that included cities such as Austin, Texas, and Palm Springs, California. Portland won out for its vibrant arts community and proximity to New York. The hunt for the right architect to renovate their new retail space in an 1880s Queen Anne style building (designed by John Calvin Stevens, an originator of Shingle style architecture) was equally comprehensive. The couple pored over lists of American lnstitute of Architects awards winners. Falmouth, Maine, architect Carol A. Wilson, known for her contemporary designs, won by a landslide. Says Barzilai, "She was the best of them all."
SARAJO IS BEST KNOWN for spectacular ritual textiles, which come in all shapes and make for interesting wall hangings when grouped. An Ottoman hamam towel lies atop embroidered fabrics from Greece.
Wilson was charged with fitting a library, gallery, changing room, office, textile storage, and photo studio into the 1,660-square-foot space, which came with some restrictions from the city’s historical commission (like keeping the 22-foot-tall interior Corinthian columns intact). Barzilai and Lindsey had envisioned a shop not unlike their spot on Greene Street in SoHo, with dark tones and a loftlike second level that hung over a textiles room. They got the loft, but that’s about it.
"Yosi really wanted a shiny black concrete floor. but because it’s an old building, it wouldn’t accept the weight," says Wilson. "I wanted white. I think that’s what a good architect does: help people realize spaces."
Now the slick white floors ( a vinyl product called Lonseal) and walls highlight the colors and textures of Sarajo’s dense, rich collection. Most of the furniture and marquetry is very dark. making for a dramatic contrast with the white shell of the gallery. "It’s like a pond or pool of water; things lend to look like they’re floating," says Wilson of the reflective floor. To shield against sun pouring through the tall windows, she called for decorative scrims that let in light but protect the space from damaging ultraviolet rays.
Cases made of glass and burnished metal mimic the geometric profile of the 550-square-foot loft, which doubles as an office perch and library. The glass-and-metal cases house everything from Indonesian beaded belts and silver-and-turquoise Tibetan earrings to chandelier-style pendants with Technicolor glass beads, usuallyworn hanging from a headdress on one’s forehead .
"I can’t believe I ever lived without white floors," says Barzilai of the new museumlike shop. New England antiques collectors, no doubt, will soon feel the same about Sarajo.
See this magazine online at digital.designnewengland.com.
CARING FOR RITUAL TEXTILES
Sarajo's Yosi Barzilai is passionate about antique ethnic textiles, especially woven ikats, suzanis from Central Asia, and Ottoman ritual embroideries. "Suzani" is the Persian word for needle, and the colorfully embroidered designs are easily recognized bytheir large scale and floral motifs. A young girl, with help from female family members, would create the wall hangings as part of her dowry; the suzanis would decorate her new home once she married. The design was traced onto strips of cotton or silk and embroidered by hand. The finished pieces were sewn together, resulting in a jagged, not-quite-perfect effect. In the Ottoman Empire, the hamam (or public steam bath) was a hub of social activity and ritual cleansing. The heavy linen hamam towels featured rows of uncut warp that left absorbent loops (we know it as terry cloth) and silk- and metallic-thread embroidery on both sides at each end of the towel. Suzanis and Ottoman towels are smart investments for collectors, but like all antiques, require special attention. Temperature, humidity, light , and pests such as moths can do damage. Barzilai offers some tips for caring for antique textiles :
AN 18TH-CENTURY CABINET (left), inlaid with ivory, supports a standing Buddha statue from Laos. A large suzani hangs to the right. Repairs occur at the back of the shop (right, top), which also serves as a digital photo studio for the Web store and a storage area. Sarajo owner Yosi Barzilai (right, bottom).