Have you ever wondered what is the most expensive rug in the world? Whether it’s because of the grandeur of their materials, their origin and history, or the scarcity of these ancient carpets, they’ve all commanded a fortune at auction.
Sickle Leaf Persian Rug expensive carpets
The Sickle Leaf Persian rug is a seventeenth-century Persian rug. It fetched a whopping $33.8 million at auction in 2013 – three times the previous auction record for a carpet sale. The rug is from Kerman, Iran, and is one of the region’s most uncommon vase-patterned rugs. Flowers and huge palmettes are common features of Kerman “vase” carpets, with a vase motif repeated throughout the pattern. This vase rug is particularly significant since it is likely the only extant carpet of its kind with a red backdrop.
Kerman Vase Carpet expensive carpets- most expensive rug in the world
In 2010, a wool carpet from the mid-seventeenth century fetched $9.6 million. This vase carpet is regarded to be a remarkable example of carpet weaving artistry in Kerman around the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The carpet is also one of the first of its sort to have a prototype of the iconic “Herati” pattern, which features a flower centered within a diamond.
Carpet with Mughal Star Lattice
The Mughal Star Lattice carpet is a high-quality cashmere wool carpet from Kashmir, India. It is one of just 12 millefleur (French for “thousand flowers”) star lattice carpets from the Mughal Empire that still exist. The exquisitely woven carpet was created in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, when the millefleur design was popular among Mughal nobles. In 2013, the carpet was auctioned off for $7.7 million.
Louis XV Savonnerie Carpets are expensive carpets.
In 2000, this eighteenth-century French carpet fetched $5.7 million at auction. The carpet was the third of three created by Pierre-Josse Perrot for royal residences in France. So basically La Savonnerie, a weaving company established in Paris in the mid-seventeenth century to make carpets and woven furniture for the royal court, produced the carpet.
Baroda’s Pearl Carpet- most expensive rug in the world
In 2009, this Persian rug fetched $5.5 million at auction. It was commissioned in the seventeenth century by the Maharajah of Baroda and is composed of silk and deer hide, with almost two million pearls, English glass beads, and gold-set diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. Also, the carpet was intended for Mohammed’s tomb, but it never arrived due to the Maharajah’s death. Instead, it remained in the hands of the Maharajah’s family.
Isfahan Rug by Doris Duke
This rug, which previously belonged to tobacco heiress Doris Duke, won $4.45 million at auction in 2008. It was fashioned in Persia in the early seventeenth century from pure silk. Basically, the rug is a wonderful specimen of Safavid art during Shah Abba’s era. Doris Duke left it to The Newport Restoration Foundation after her death in 1990.
Prayer Rug Safahid- most expensive rug in the world
The Safavid prayer rug is an unique prayer rug made of wool, silk, and metal threads. It was created between 1575 and 1625. The rug is engraved with Persian poems. Also, this implies that it was given to the Ottoman Turks by the Persian Safavid court. The carpet sold at auction for $4.3 million in 2009, 20 times its pre-sale estimate, due to its rarity and remarkably exceptional condition.
Tabriz Madallion Carpet by Rothschild
This sixteenth-century Tabriz rug comes from Tabriz, Azerbaijan/Iran, one of the world’s oldest carpet weaving centers. The carpet is said to have been taken by the Nazis during World War II from the Austrian branch of the Rothschild Family. In 2008, Sheikh al-Thani of Qatar purchased the ancient carpet at auction for $2.4 million. Basically, this is significantly above its estimated value of $400 000.