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10032015 Sotheby's NYC Rug Auction Raises Steady $2.2M

10/3/2015

SOTHEBY'S NYC RUG AUCTION RAISES STEADY $2.2M


 Lot 66, a Safavid fragmentary rug, cost the winning bidder $75,000, above its estimated high of $60,000.


NEW YORK - Sotheby's Carpets By Distinguished Collector's auction raised a grand total of $2.2 million on the October 1, 2015 sale of 114 rugs and carpets - a steady outcome. That number represents 60% of the group of 194 Middle Eastern, Russian and Asian items offered, which were expected to generate between $2.7 million and $3.9 million.

"The market for rugs and carpets continues to be very polarized, with the older, more rare pieces attracting the most attention," said Mary Jo Otsea, head of Sotheby's rugs and carpets department. "The auction showed that buyers are rather careful and sellers need to have reasonable expectations in order to attract interest. The appetite for good, old rugs is there, but in the current economic atmosphere, everyone is cautious."


 Auction top seller a 17th century "Polonaise" silk and metal-thread rug from Central Persia fetched $790,000.

The auction's cover item, Lot 68, a "Polonaise" silk and metal thread rug from the estate of King Umberto II of Italy, fetched $790,000 from a private American buyer, below the expected $800,000-1,200,000 estimate - nonetheless still triple the price it raised about three decades ago when it was last on the open market. Lot 66, a Safavid fragmentary rug, sold for the second highest price at $75,000, above its estimated high of $60,000; and a slightly larger than 10x6 "Mohtashem" Kashan reached its estimated $50,000 price.


A Transylvanian Prayer Rug sold for $50,000 well in excess of its estimate.

"Throughout the sale we were encouraged by the great international participation in the sale, with bidders from around the globe," added Otsea. "Carpets carrying distinguished provenances, such as the 'Transylvanian' prayer rug from the collection of Thomas and Gwen Farnham and the Chinese carpets from an American Lady, performed very well. There was also good, steady bidding for the enticingly estimated carpets from the Berdj Abadjian collection."

The auction included a large selection of collectible tribal and city rugs and room-size furnishing carpets from the 19th century, as well as a number of fine and rare classical weavings from the Safavid and Ottoman eras as well.

Sotheby's last major carpet auction was held on Jan. 31 2014 and also sold off rugs, carpets and textiles from private collections. That sale raised $4 million with many lots selling for well over estimate, according to Sotheby's. Leading the sale was a Safavid 'vase'-technique carpet fragment which brought $365,000 - more than three times the high estimate. Also performing strongly was an Eagle Kazak rug which sold for $233,000, far more than the estimated value of o$120,000. 

Prior to that sale, in June 2013, Sotheby's auctioned off a range of stunning carpets collected by copper baron William A. Clark, a collector of 16th and 17th century carpets. In fact, that auction made history with the sale of a 17th century sickle-leaf, vine scroll and palmette 'vase'-technique carpet, which sold for an astounding price of $33,765,000, raising a staggering $43,764,750, and making it the most expensive carpet in the world.

 

10.03.15

 

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