Persian carpet

A magnificent Isfahan carpet, circa 1600, from the Doris Duke collection at the Newport Restoration Foundation, Newport, Rhode Island, came under the hammer at Christie’s in Rockefeller Center, New York City, on Tuesday, June 3. It sold for $4,450,500 (including buyer’s premium), the highest price ever paid for a carpet at auction.

Estimated at $1,000,000/ 1,500,000, the approximately 7′7″ x 5′7″ carpet has been known in the United States since 1930. In June of that year it was on the title page of ARTnews. It had once been in the collection of Grace Rainey-Rogers, then in Hagop Kevorkian’s collection, and then, after selling at Sotheby’s in 1990 to an anonymous buyer, was acquired by Doris Duke.

With a silk warp and weft, its tonality and design is reminiscent of the group of 17th-century “Polonaise” carpets, although rug expert Michael Franses asserts it preceded them. Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman included the rug in their seminal work A Survey of Persian Art. Pope wrote about it, “Nothing further in the way of refinement, imagination, perfection of technique, or infinite charm of color was produced in this period.” Pope referred to the apex of Safavid art during the reign of Shah Abbas (1587-1629).

“We were absolutely thrilled with the results. It went beyond our expectations,” said Elisabeth Parker, department head of Oriental rugs and carpets at Christie’s. “It was an honor to be able to sell this carpet.”

The buyer remains anonymous, although there is speculation that it went to a major museum.

by Julia Winston Adams