When Mike Tschebull '63 was studying history at Colby he never imagined that he would one day be buying pieces of it. A world-renowned dealer and collector of antique Islamic carpets, Tschebull is a leading expert on 18th- and 19th-century folk art weaving of western Iran and the Caucasus.

"I grew up with these rugs and inherited them," Tschebull said. "They have always held a special place in my life and I feel lucky to be able to make my living talking about and working with these extraordinary works of art."

His cachet is such that the government of Iran has repeatedly invited Tschebull to present papers at symposiums in Tehran. He was one of a handful of Westerners--including only three Americans--who participated in a two-day conference last August, his second symposium in Iran since 1993.

During both visits, Tschebull has been given extraordinary freedom to explore Iran. "We were not controlled," he said. "We wandered Tehran at will and went into the countryside to see some of the archaeological treasures of Iran." Among the highlights was a visit to Isfahan, an ancient city that Tschebull described as "an architectural masterpiece."

He says that contrary to popular belief in the United States, average Iranians are not hostile toward Americans, although there remains some "ritualized" antagonism from government officials. "We didn't encounter any anti-Western hostility at all," he said.

An ongoing economic embargo against Iran by the United States severely limits the purchase of any Iranian product by American citizens or entities. "The odd thing about the embargo is that it generally applies to Iranian artworks regardless of when they were made, no matter that they have been out of Iran for many years," Tschebull said. As a result, he says, the embargo inhibits imports of old carpets from Europe or the Middle East.

Tschebull majored in European history at Colby, an academic path he says built upon a desire to live and work abroad. He spent 10 years in Germany and Spain working for Bankers Trust and later worked for Credit Suisse in New York City. He left in 1989 to run his own business, Tschebull Antique Carpets. However, he had established himself as an expert on Iranian carpets long before then--as a collector since 1965 and as curator for a show in 1971.

"There is a lot we can learn about Iran by learning about these carpets," Tschebull said. "They offer a glimpse into a culture that is often misunderstood by the West."

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