859-254-4412
Shop by Size
Shop By Style
Shop By Room
Rugs 101
Cleaning / Repair
Newsletter
Contact Us
Showroom
Designer Services
Clearance Specials
Store Location
Store Hours
Shop By Style
Shop By Room
Rugs 101
Cleaning / Repair
Newsletter
Contact Us
Showroom
Designer Services
Clearance Specials
Store Location
Store Hours
Safavid ‘Polonaise’ silk rug, probably Esfahan,
central Persia, ca. 1600. 1.70 x 2.31m (5’7” x 7’
7”). Christie’s New York, 3 Lune 2008, lot 37,
estimate $1,000,000–1,500,000
central Persia, ca. 1600. 1.70 x 2.31m (5’7” x 7’
7”). Christie’s New York, 3 Lune 2008, lot 37,
estimate $1,000,000–1,500,000
Auction Record Set to Fall at Christie's New York
Friday, May 30, 2008
There is every chance that the world record price at auction for an oriental
carpet will be surpassed at Christie’s Rockefeller Center rooms in New York
on Tuesday 3 June 2008. The rug in question, a very beautiful and delicate
central Persian ‘Polonaise’ style silk rug, probably made in Esfahan around
1600, is no newcomer to the market, having last been sold at Sotheby’s in New
York in December 1990 for $506,000 (see HALI 55, p.162), when it was
presumably bought by the American heiress Doris Duke, who died in 1993.
What sets it apart from the mainstream of the ‘Polonaise’ weaving genre is its
all-silk foundation and the lack of precious metal-thread brocading. With an
illustrious provenance that also includes Kouchakji Frères, Hagop Kevorkian,
Mrs Grace Rainey Rogers (sold at Parke Bernet in 1943) and Doris Duke, it is
being sold from the Doris Duke Collection on behalf of the Newport (Rhode
Island) Restoration Foundation. Estimated by Christie’s Elisabeth Parker at $1-
1.5 million, it is perfectly likely that in the present buying climate, where the best
classical carpets, especially those with the added allure of good provenance,
perform well above reasonable expectations, that it will pass the current
record, which stands at just under $2.5 million, paid at Christie’s in London in
July 1999 for the Rothschild Tabriz medallion carpet, now in the Museum of
Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.
Friday, May 30, 2008
There is every chance that the world record price at auction for an oriental
carpet will be surpassed at Christie’s Rockefeller Center rooms in New York
on Tuesday 3 June 2008. The rug in question, a very beautiful and delicate
central Persian ‘Polonaise’ style silk rug, probably made in Esfahan around
1600, is no newcomer to the market, having last been sold at Sotheby’s in New
York in December 1990 for $506,000 (see HALI 55, p.162), when it was
presumably bought by the American heiress Doris Duke, who died in 1993.
What sets it apart from the mainstream of the ‘Polonaise’ weaving genre is its
all-silk foundation and the lack of precious metal-thread brocading. With an
illustrious provenance that also includes Kouchakji Frères, Hagop Kevorkian,
Mrs Grace Rainey Rogers (sold at Parke Bernet in 1943) and Doris Duke, it is
being sold from the Doris Duke Collection on behalf of the Newport (Rhode
Island) Restoration Foundation. Estimated by Christie’s Elisabeth Parker at $1-
1.5 million, it is perfectly likely that in the present buying climate, where the best
classical carpets, especially those with the added allure of good provenance,
perform well above reasonable expectations, that it will pass the current
record, which stands at just under $2.5 million, paid at Christie’s in London in
July 1999 for the Rothschild Tabriz medallion carpet, now in the Museum of
Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.
