I bought a bengal tiger skin rug.

Hi,
My name is Vic and I recently bought a bengal tiger skin rug at an estate auction. It has some 3 small tears in the skin around the back end by the tail, and the tail has a tear as well. It is also missing 3 claws. It has 2 layers of felt type backing on it which looks new. I dont know much (anything) about taxidermy, I just could not resist buying this for my house. I was hoping to get some of your expert opinions about a couple questions I have. First of all, is it legal to own in WA? I couldnt find the answer on google. I dont have any paperwork for it except the auction reciept.
I would like to get the tears fixed and get it into the best shape possible. What can I expect to pay for that type of restoration, and is it something I should get done or will I just be throwing my money away? I absolutely love the look of this peice in my living room but I would rather not pay for the restoration if it will cost more than the value of the rug itself.
Also, any tips or newb info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

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uh oh, now Im getting nervous. The auction house that did the sale is pretty well known. Also, it does actually look really really old in person. It looks better in this pic than in real life. I wouldnt be surprised if it was 100+ years old. The auctioneer said that the owner recently had the felt backing changed. I will try to find out if they have any more info about it..

 

So i spoke to someone from the auction and they said that they called USFW ahead of time and got the OK to sell it. **whew**.. it was mbaauction.com. They also said it was made sometime in the 20's and the previous owner bought it in the 70's. Now that I know that, can somebody please tell me if its old age will decrease the value much and still if it is worth restoring and what size bill I should expect.

 

Ya I thought about it and I figured the same thing. Yesterday morning I dropped it off to get a full restoration. They will start with a full cleaning, add some missing claws, repair all of the tears and touch up some imperfections with paint. The guy said the backing looks new and is in perfect shape. He also said its one of the best examples that he has seen for that age. Im pretty excited and cant wait to get it back. It should be done in a couple weeks, and once I see it Im pretty sure I wont want to sell it for any price. I just hope my wife wont make a rug out of ME. The only thing I forgot to do is take some "before" pics. I will def post some pics up when its all done. I just wish this this site allowed bigger photos.

 

So I picked up the finished product and it looks amazing. The guy did a wonderful job. He did a full cleaning which brought out the colors. He replaced some missing claws, fixed the tears, fixed the tail, and did some touch up painting.
Besides all of that, he told me that its not a bengal tiger like I originally thought but that its a sumatran tiger. He showed me some comparisons of the stripe sizes and patterns and said that he is 95% sure of it. He is a qualified upraiser so I believe him. ;D Its a bummer the pics are so small but even full size pics do not do it justice. I just cant wait to get it back in my house.

 

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Thank you Michael.

Boarhunter, I bought it for $350 and the restoration was $730. This is my first taxidermy buy so I hope I did ok...? :-\