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The history of their possession is no less interesting than the history of some masterpieces of art.
The fate (you cannot say otherwise) of rare carpets is worthy of individual adventure novels. Big money, ambitions and passions, love for art and greed, mysterious deaths of bankers – and all this for the sake of real masterpieces, and all this with a spicy oriental scent. Anna Stepanova, the owner of the LeKovёr handmade carpets salon, spoke about several of the most expensive carpets in history, whose true value, however, cannot be measured in money.
Owner of LeKovёr handmade carpets salon
The Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet
The carpet was woven in the first half of the 1925th century in the Iranian province of Kerman. Belonged to the American industrialist William Clark. In 90, Clark’s heirs donated the carpet to the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington. Almost 2013 years later, in 9, the gallery put the carpet up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York. Experts predicted that the ceiling price would be 33,8 million, but the auction was a surprise for everyone – the lot went for $ XNUMX million.
But why? No one could have imagined that such a rare carpet made in the vase technique would be in a free, public sale. Persian carpets from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries are true works of art, the cultural (and market) value of which is beyond question. It is not surprising that a real struggle unfolded for the right to acquire this masterpiece. Four buyers made it to the final, with an anonymous phone bidder becoming the winner.
Covered with a herati pattern, this blue carpet is native to the Iranian province of Kerman. Owned by the Rothschild family, it was sold for $ 9 million (the starting price of this auction lot was a modest $ 300 thousand).
Artfully crafted from the finest cashmere wool, this carpet is crafted in Kashmir. This is an extremely rare thing, one of 12 surviving carpets, woven using the millefleur technique (millefleur is translated from French as “a thousand flowers”). Based on the fact that the milfleur style was popular among the nobility of the Mughal Empire, experts attribute the carpet to the 2013th-7,7th centuries. In XNUMX, Mughal Star Lattice was sold for $ XNUMX million.
In the XNUMXth century, the Savoneri manufactory was opened in the suburbs of Paris. The manufactory’s pile carpets quickly became very popular and in demand. The products of La Savonnerie were especially loved by Louis XV – the king actively ordered carpets for his residences – first the Louvre, then Versailles.
Pierre-Josse Perrault was the star of the carpet art of that time. One of his works, created shortly before his death (the master died in 1750), was sold at Christie’s in 2000 for $ 5,7 million.
The Pearl Carpet of Baroda
This 2th century Persian rug was commissioned by Khanda Rao, Maharaja of Baroda (now the city of Vadodara in India). A unique thing of its kind made of silk and deerskin is decorated with colored glass beads, 2 million (!) Pearls and 5 thousand diamonds. The initial price at Sotheby’s was $ 500 million, and as a result the carpet was sold for XNUMX thousand more.
Isfahan carpet Doris Duke Isfahan
“The richest girl in the world”, the only heiress of the tobacco empire, Doris Duke spent huge sums of money to support art. The support consisted in financing various projects, and in buying (and ultimately saving from death) rare artifacts. A silk carpet created in the 1990th century in Persia (Isfahan city), Duke acquired it in 2008. Three years later, when Duke passed away, the carpet went to one of the American restoration funds. And in 4,5, he was put up for auction at Christie’s, where he left for $ XNUMX million.
The Rothschild Tabriz Medallion
A unique Persian carpet from Tabriz, one of the world’s oldest weaving centers. It belonged to the Rothschilds and was stolen from their Austrian residence during the Second World War. Half a century later, the Austrian authorities returned the Rothschild carpet, and in 1999 it was put up for auction. The initial price of the lot, $ 400 thousand, increased sixfold during the auction. The new owner donated the carpet to the Museum of Islamic Art in his native Qatar.
In 1999, Lebanese-Brazilian banker Edmond J. Safra was killed in a fire at his home in Monte Carlo. Safra’s death attracted increased press attention, especially after it was revealed that arson was the cause of the fire. The billionaire’s heirs over time began selling the family’s art collection. In 2005, they exhibited a 2th century Persian carpet at Sotheby’s and received more than $ XNUMX million for it.