Mugrdech Der Bogosian
Mugrdech Der Bogosian 
| |
|---|---|
| Other names | Moke |
| Ethnicities | Armenian |
| Dialects | Western Armenian |
With no family left, because of the Armenian Genocide, Mugrdech Der Bogosian (known to his customers as Moke) immigrated to the United States where he could start over. He passed through Ellis Island in 1916 and settled on the East Coast in New Jersey. Moke put his great artistic talent to use by designing oriental rugs at the Gulistan Carpet Mills in 1917. In 1920, Moke was offered a rug designer job in Los Angeles by Mr. Keshishyan. Moke moved to Los Angeles and designed rugs to customer specifications, which usually included size and color preference. When complete, the designs were sent to India, Iran, or China where the rugs were hand made to Moke's directions. These rugs took between one and two years to be completed.
Moke Bogosian custom designed rugThe rugs were designed to custom fit rooms for the larger homes in the Pasadena, Hancock Park and the Beverly Hills areas. Some of his clients included Mr. and Mrs. Helm (Helm's Bakery), Mr. and Mrs. Doheny (the pioneer of Beverly Hills), Mr. and Mrs. Wriggly (the gum company), Mr. and Mrs. Van Nuys Page (the city of Van Nuys and a museum were named after them), Mr. and Mrs. Asa V. Call (another prominent family in West Los Angeles,), etc.
In the 1920s, Moke was commissioned to design a 24' x 23' Chinese (Ming 16th Century) purchased by the late J. Pierpont Morgan Esq. through Mr. John S. Keshishyan from the estate of ex-governor Oliver Ames of Boston Mass and presented by J. P. Morgan to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
In 1923, Moke started Arax Oriental Rug Cleaning Company out of his home. The bulk of his business was to hand wash and restore the rugs that he had designed. He was in great demand from his clients who owned rugs made from his original designs. They didn't want anyone but Moke to touch their valuable and beautiful rugs.
In 1936, Moke built a cleaning plant in order to expand his business. He started to accept other designer's carpets for both cleaning and restoration. Because of Moke's unique skills and hard work, his business continued to grow.
Moke Bogosian and Aram Bogosian
Moke's oldest son, Aram, joined the business in 1946, and father and son worked side by side until Moke retired in 1972. Aram has continued with the traditional hand wash and restoration of these oriental rugs. Aram is one of the only few who continue with hand wash and restoration process.