A Seventeenth Century Persian rug was the protagonist at the last Sotheby's auction. The rug was sold for over $30 million, breaking all previous records for rugs and carpets.
The rug, dominated by the color red and featuring a mostly floral design with curved lines, had been held for decades by Corcoran Gallery of Art. The anonymous buyer bid by phone, and the final prize was $33,765,000.
The rug was previously owned by William Clark, who donated it before his death in 1935.
"I anticipated it to be sold at somewhere between 10 and 15 million dollars", said Mary Jo Otsea, Senior Vice President and Worldwide Director of the Carpets department at Sotheby's .
The 8 x 6 feet rug was created using the "flowerpot" technique perfected during the Safavid dynasty in Persia.