His book on Armenian oriental rugs came out of realization that many rugs labeled as Turkish or Kazakh or something else were in fact Armenian in origin. He was extremely proud of his Armenian heritage and spent the last decades of his life collecting and documenting the particular aspects of Armenian oriental rug weaving. His collection of Armenian oriental rugs was shown throughout the world and the majority of it was donated to the Armenian Library and Museum of America, of which he was a founding member and director. He was also president of the Armenian Rugs Society.