Eiland, Murray L(ee) 1936–

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EILAND, Murray L(ee) 1936–

PERSONAL: Born September 9, 1936, in Taft, CA; son of Murray Lee, Sr. (a judge) and Frances (a teacher; maiden name, Perrigo) Eiland; married Astrid Hilweg (a nurse), November 19, 1967; children: Murray Lee III. Education: Attended University of California—Los Angeles, 1954–57; University of California—Berkeley, B.A., 1958; University of California—San Francisco, M.D., 1961.

ADDRESSES: Home—Berkeley, CA. Office—Napa State Hospital, Imola, CA 94558.

CAREER: U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Staten Island, NY, intern, 1961–62; Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco, CA, resident, 1962–65; Napa State Hospital, Imola, CA, psychiatrist, 1965–. Private practice of forensic psychiatry. President of Oriental Rug Co., Inc., 1974–.

MEMBER: American Psychiatric Association, California Medical Association, Northern California Psychiatric Association, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Joseph V. McMullan Award.

WRITINGS:

Oriental Rugs: A Comprehensive Guide, New York Graphic Society, 1973, expanded edition, 1976, 3rd edition published as Oriental Rugs: A New Comprehensive Guide, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1981.

Chinese and Exotic Rugs, New York Graphic Society (Boston, MA), 1979.

Chinese and Other Exotic Oriental Rugs, New York Graphic Society, 1979.

(With Lucy Der Manuelian) Weavers, Merchants, and Kings: The Inscribed Rugs of Armenia, Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX), 1984.

Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections, San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society (San Francisco, CA), 1990.

(Editor, with Dennis R. Dodds) Oriental Rugs from Atlantic Collections, Philadelphia Eighth ICOC (Philadelphia, PA), 1996.

(With son, Murray Lee Eiland III) Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1998.

(Editor, with Robert Pinner) Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies: The Salting Carpets, International Conference on Oriental Carpets, 1999.

(With Robert Pinner) Between the Black Desert and the Red: Turkmen Carpets from the Wiedersperg Collection, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA), 1999.

SIDELIGHTS: Dr. Murray L. Eiland is generally considered to be one of the most knowledgeable scholars of all time on the subject of fine rugs. Eiland is trained as a physician and has practiced in the psychiatric field for many years, including a specialization in forensic psychiatry. His ventures in the rug world are an avocation, one he shares with his son, Murray Eiland III, and a brother, Emmett Eiland. Both men are also known as rug experts, with the elder Eiland regarded as the top rug man in the United States, and among the best in the world. Eiland and his son coauthored Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide, which serves as a seminal resource for rug dealers and scholars. Eiland has published numerous books, and Barry O'Connell, editor of the Web site JBOC's Notes on Oriental Rugs, has repeatedly stated that Eiland's books are the most essential on the subject of rugs. He praised their illustrations, content, and Eiland's writing style. According to O'Connell, Eiland is "a bit of a skeptic. He is very cautious about what he accepts" and his mind is "razor sharp." Recommending Oriental Rugs: A Complete Guide as "one of the very best books in the field," O'Connell noted: "I know some people avoid general rug books once they gain a little knowledge but they miss the point because this book is every bit as important as the specialist literature."