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S. Kent Costikyan, the founder of Kent- Costikyan, Inc., was born in Marsovan, Asia Minor, and educated at Colgate Academy, where he spent two years specializing in American history. His father's export company in Constantinople made a shipment of Oriental rugs to a New York dealer. The dealer failed to remit payment, asserting there was no American Market for them. The rugs were then turned over S. Kent who sold them to the faculty members of Colgate Academy, a transaction that created a demand for similar rugs.
In 1886 a shipment was made to him, and he organized a division of the firm of Costikyan Freres in Rochester, New York. In the next decade, he created a public appreciation of Oriental weaves, establishing branches of Costikyan Freres in important centers of the country. In 1900 the firm of Costikyan Freres was dissolved. The firm name of Kent-Costikyan was derived by coupling the family surname of his wife, Mary Kent, with his own.
The house that S. Kent Costikyan built was renowned for its collection of museum quality period carpets as well as its selection of 19th and 20th-century carpets from the Mid and Far East and European continents. He also created a division that handled fine machine loomed carpets from the United States and abroad. Following Clarke's graduation from Yale College, he joined his family's concern. Both S. Kent & Clarke were highly respected experts in their field. Clarke was a consultant to Parke-Bernet & the U. S. Customs for over twenty years.
The Costikyan heritage was passed on to June Costikyan, Clarke's daughter & Phillip, his grandson. Both were trained by three artisans that had been associated with the Costikyan organization since the 1920s. Phillip inherited his family's restoration facility and along with his mother continued to service Kent-Costikyan's clientele as well as the younger generation of collectors of fine antique and modern carpets as well as decorative floor coverings.
134 years of business, we welcome you to view Costikyan's entrance into the 21st Century.
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