An Agra carpet, Northwest India

Marjorie Merriweather Post

Pile ranges from generally good approximately 1/6th of an inch to 1/8th of an inch. Foundation slightly dry and brittle in areas, not a problem once the carpet is down; should be rolled and not folded for storage and shipping. Scattered spot stains, surface dirt. Ends with later applied fringes. Sides with original selvages. A few scattered visible warp ties, very small approximately 1 inch repaird slit into upper end guard border. Supple handle, lustrous wool, very good pile and overall condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Marjorie Merriweather Post was an iconic socialite of the 1920s and 1930s and her homes, including the Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach and Hillwood House in Washington, D.C., were among the most revered hubs for the upper classes. Born in 1887 in Springfield, Illinois, Ms. Post was the only child of C.W. Post, founder of Postum Cereal Company, a leader in the manufacturing of breakfast cereals and coffee substitutes. In 1905 Marjorie married Edward Close, a lawyer from a prominent family in Greenwich, Connecticut. Upon her father's death just nine years later, Ms. Post became the sole shareholder of Postum and one of the richest women in the country, with a wealth of some $20,000,000. Even before Marjorie came into her large inheritance, she travelled extensively and frequently. Probably the now-most-well-known destination of her travels was Palm Beach, Florida. At the time Palm Beach was nothing more than a small overgrown island, which remained an obscure resort until the completion of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Soon after the completion of the railroad, wealthy northeasterners, including Post, began their trips to Palm Beach, often in the comfort of their private rail cars. When in 1920 Marjorie divorced Mr. Close and married E.F. Hutton, Jr., a talented, successful and social businessman, the trips to Palm Beach became increasingly frequent. In 1924 the couple purchased a 17 acre parcel on the Atlantic Ocean and commissioned the architect Marion Sims Wyeth, an American whose oeuvre reflected the already-established Spanish colonial taste of Palm Beach, and Josef Urban, a noted Austrian architect who had previously worked for the Imperial Court in Vienna. These eminent architects were hired to design a sufficiently grand residence for the extravagant Huttons. By the mid-1920s the couple owned numerous lavish residences and large estates throughout the United States. Throughout her life Marjorie Post worked with numerous designers, such as Franz Barwig, and used the services of an overwhelming selection of firms, including French & Company and Edward F. Caldwell & Co. in New York, but always had considerable influence over the projects. For example, the concept of decorating each room in a different style clearly came from her as it appears in some of her most-loved homes such as Hillwood in Washington, D.C. and Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, where the interior decoration of the her bedrooms were identical. The carpet offered here was used by Ms. Post in the dining room at Mar-A-Lago and was later moved to Hillwood House in Washington, D.C. After Ms. Post's divorce from Mr. Hutton in 1935 she married Joseph Davies, a Washington lawyer, and began spending less time in Florida and more on her other estates in the north. Hillwood in Washington D.C. was one of her favorite homes where she stored her large collection of Russian works of art that she had acquired while spending time in Moscow in the late 1930s, when her new husband was appointed U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. Marjorie remained an avid collector and patron until her death in 1972 and constantly updated the interiors of her homes, including Hillwood and Mar-A-Lago, by enlisting the services of some of the most prominent firms and purchasing items from well-known dealers and auction houses such as Parke-Bernet Galleries, the predecessor of Sotheby's in the United States.