10 Most Expensive Rugs Ever Sold at Auction

The most expensive rug ever sold at auction is the Clark Sickle-Leaf carpet. Sotheby's sold it in New York in 2013 for $33.7 million, a result the auction house still identifies as the world record. That extraordinary price sits far above the other sales in this list.

This article restores the visual countdown readers know, with one image for every rug and two relevant videos. Prices are shown in the original sale currency whenever the official auction record provides it. Historical dollar conversions are included only as context, since exchange rates and buyer's premium conventions make cross-year comparisons imperfect.

10. Polonaise silk and metal-thread rug, reported at $790,000

At a glance: Isfahan or Kashan, Central Persia | Silk and metal thread | Sotheby's New York, 2015 | Reported result: $790,000

The name "Polonaise" is misleading. These luxurious rugs were produced on Persian looms, probably in Isfahan or Kashan, and became associated with Poland after examples bearing Polish coats of arms were shown in nineteenth-century Europe. Sotheby's describes this piece as part of the estate of King Umberto II of Italy.

Its visual effect came from extremely fine silver and silver-gilt strips wrapped around silk. Green, blue, red, gold, and silver tones created a shimmering courtly surface. The unusually well-preserved emerald field is one reason this example stands out. See the Sotheby's catalogue record, then compare the tradition with our Isfahan rugs and Kashan rugs.

9. First-Phase Navajo Chief's Blanket, $1.8 million

At a glance: Southwestern United States | Hand-spun wool | John Moran Auctioneers, 2012 | $1,800,000

This mid-nineteenth-century blanket sold for $1.8 million against an estimate of $100,000 to $200,000. The auction record describes natural ivory, dark brown, black, indigo blue, and lac red wool. Its horizontal stripes were designed to run across the shoulders when worn.

First-Phase blankets are admired for disciplined proportions, very fine wool, tight weaving, and rarity. The official Moran lot page says fewer than one hundred were known at the time of sale.

The following CNBC video tells a separate human-interest story about another rare Navajo blanket. It is useful context, but it is not the same $1.8 million Moran lot shown above.

8. Safavid Paradise Garden carpet, $2.03 million

At a glance: East Persia | Approximately 27 feet 4 inches by 11 feet 3 inches | Sotheby's New York, 2005 | Reported result: $2.03 million

This immense carpet came from the collections of Lily and Edmond J. Safra. Its field is arranged like an inhabited garden, with stags, deer, gazelles, parrots, peacocks, and scenes of animals in combat among cypress and flowering trees.

The imagery connects courtly hunting with the Persian garden as a symbol of earthly and heavenly delight. Its scale, jewel-like palette, and balanced design make the carpet visually overwhelming even before its provenance is considered. Read the Sotheby's catalogue entry.

7. Rothschild Tabriz Medallion Carpet, £1.596 million

At a glance: Tabriz, Northwest Persia | Sixteenth century | Christie's London, 1999 | £1.596 million, about $2.4 million at the time

This large Safavid carpet belonged to Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild. Christie's references the work as a major example in the development of energetic arabesque drawing within Tabriz medallion carpets.

The sale result set an auction record for a carpet at the time. Its combination of scale, Rothschild provenance, Safavid court design, and survival helped drive the price far beyond the estimate. A later Christie's catalogue essay identifies the 1999 sale as lot 188. Explore related design traditions in our Tabriz rug collection.

6. Louis XV Savonnerie carpet, $4.406 million

At a glance: France | Woven circa 1740 to 1750 after a design by Pierre-Josse Perrot | Christie's New York, 2000 | $4,406,000

The royal arms, crown, acanthus scrolls, military trophies, cornucopias, shells, and floral swags turn this nearly twenty-foot-square carpet into a complete Rococo interior scheme. Christie's records an estimate of $2 million to $4 million and a realized price of $4,406,000.

The scale is matched by its exceptional condition and royal associations. Christie's notes that only three carpets of this exact design were delivered to the French royal administration. See the official Christie's lot record.

5. Silk Isfahan rug from the Doris Duke collection, $4.4505 million

At a glance: Central Persia | Circa 1600 | Christie's New York, 2008 | $4,450,500

This is the smallest rug in the countdown, measuring about 7 feet 7 inches by 5 feet 7 inches. Its warps, wefts, and pile are all silk. That structure allowed the weavers to execute an exceptionally fine network of blossoms, leaves, cloud bands, and arabesque vines.

Christie's describes the rug as a masterpiece of Safavid art and records seventeen colors in the weave. Its provenance includes Grace Rainey Rogers, Hagop Kevorkian, Doris Duke, and the Newport Restoration Foundation. The realized price was $4,450,500. See the Christie's catalogue record and browse our Isfahan rugs.

4. Pearl Carpet of Baroda, about $5.5 million

At a glance: Baroda, India | Nineteenth century | Sotheby's Doha, 2009 | About $5.5 million

This object is closer to a jeweled ceremonial textile than an ordinary pile carpet. Qatar Museums describes a silk-thread structure on natural deerskin, decorated with more than 1.5 million Basra pearls as well as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, glass beads, gold, and silver.

It was intended as a covering for the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina but never reached that destination. After its 2009 sale, it entered the Qatar Museums collection and is now a centerpiece of the National Museum of Qatar. See the Qatar Museums collection feature.

3. Vanderbilt Mughal Star-Lattice carpet, £4.7865 million

At a glance: North India | Late seventeenth or early eighteenth century | Christie's London, 2013 | £4,786,500

The scarlet field is organized by a golden lattice filled with small floral arrangements. Laboratory analysis confirmed a pashmina pile on a cotton foundation, a combination that helped the carpet retain unusual structural strength.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II displayed it in the Moorish Smoking Room of his New York mansion and later at The Breakers in Newport. Christie's estimated the carpet at £1.5 million to £2 million, but it realized £4,786,500. See the official Christie's record.

2. Comtesse de Béhague Kirman Vase Carpet, £6.20125 million

At a glance: Southeast Persia | Mid-seventeenth century | Christie's London, 2010 | £6,201,250

Against an estimate of £200,000 to £300,000, this carpet realized £6,201,250. At the time, it became the most expensive carpet sold at auction. Its rhythmic field of serrated leaves, palmettes, rosettes, and vines is both intricate and unusually clear.

Christie's connects the design to the later Herati pattern and describes seventeenth-century Kirman weavers as exceptionally inventive. The carpet also has distinguished provenance through the collection of Martine Marie Pol, Comtesse de Béhague. Read the Christie's catalogue essay and explore our Kerman rugs.

1. Clark Sickle-Leaf carpet, $33.7 million

At a glance: Probably Kirman, Southeast Persia | Early seventeenth century | Sotheby's New York, 2013 | $33.7 million

The Clark Sickle-Leaf carpet remains the auction record holder according to Sotheby's. Its $33.7 million result was almost five times the high estimate of $7 million and far above the previous carpet record.

The design layers curling vines, fruiting branches, cypress trees, palmettes, cloud bands, and long serrated leaves over a rare red ground. Sotheby's carefully qualifies the attribution as "probably Kirman," so the same wording is used here. William A. Clark bequeathed the carpet to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, which later sold it at Sotheby's.

Read the detailed Sotheby's lot essay and the auction house's current rugs and carpets overview.

Why did these rugs sell for so much?

No single feature explains every result. The strongest sales usually combine rarity, art-historical importance, condition, exceptional materials, sophisticated design, documented provenance, and intense competition between bidders.

• Rarity: Some belong to tiny surviving groups or are unique in color, scale, or design.
• Materials and technique: Silk, pashmina, metal thread, precious stones, and demanding weaving structures can elevate an object far beyond ordinary production.
• Provenance: Collections associated with Clark, Vanderbilt, Rothschild, Duke, Safra, and Béhague add documentation and cultural significance.
• Condition: A major classical carpet that retains color, pile, and structural integrity is exceptionally scarce.
• Auction dynamics: Estimates are opinions, not guarantees. Two determined bidders can push a singular work far beyond expectations.

Do auction records tell you what your rug is worth?

No. These are museum-level exceptions, not practical comparables for most household rugs. Origin, age, dimensions, materials, construction, condition, repairs, design quality, provenance, and current demand all matter. For a more useful framework, read our guide to what makes a Persian rug valuable.

If you want to experience the character of handmade weaving at a practical scale, browse our current collection of authentic Persian rugs. Each available piece has its own dimensions, condition, origin, and story.