Jack Franses (1927–2010) was a world expert on Islamic art, carpets and textiles.

Career

Franses was born in Ealing on 16 June 1927, to a Jewish family which had immigrated from

Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

in 1904. He completed National Service in the British armed forces, and then fought for the Israelis in the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. He then began work as an art dealer, and in 1969, together with one of his brothers, set up the tapestry and carpet dealership "Franses of Piccadilly". In 1974 he was appointed consultant to the new carpet and textiles department at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, in 1979 senior director for the Middle East and India, and in 1981 head of the new Islamic Art department. His greatest asset was his perfect recall of almost every rug or textile he had ever seen. Both at Sotheby's and as a dealer, he advised numerous collectors, among them

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, and royalty such as

Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until Death and state funeral of King Hussein, his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemites, Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hu ...

Umberto II of Italy Umberto II (; 15 September 190418 March 1983) was the last King of Italy. Umberto's reign lasted for 34 days, from 9 May 1946 until his formal deposition on 12 June 1946, although he had been the ''de facto'' head of state since 1944. Due to hi ...

, and

Fahd of Saudi Arabia Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1982. He was t ...

. In 1974 he was involved in ascertaining the genuineness of a 16th-century rug bought from Sotheby's by J. Paul Getty for £22,000. Franses organised many successful sales across Europe and the Far East during his time at Sotheby's. During his tenure at Sotheby's Franses recorded that sales in Europe rose from £200,000 to £5.3 million. However in 1985 he overestimated the possibilities when, years ahead of his time, he organised an unsuccessful Sotheby's auction in Dubai. This led to his departure from the auction house and a return to the trade. After leaving Sotheby's, Franses worked as an independent consultant, dealer, and expert witness. He died on 10 December 2010. His ashes are scattered under 'Jack's tree' in the Della Gherardesca Gardens in Firenze, his favourite city.

Publications

*''European and Oriental Rugs for Pleasure and Investment'' (1970; revised ed. 1973). *''Tribal Rugs from Afghanistan and Turkestan'' (1973). *''Tapestries and their Mythology'' (1973). * *

Sources

Obituary
in the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', February 3, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Franses, Jack Historians of Islamic art English art dealers 1927 births 2010 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople