NEW YORK—Two iconic carpets will form the focal point of a June 5 sale at Sotheby’s. The sale will include 25 carpets from 16th and 17th centuries—truly antique from the average collector’s point of view.
Both featured pieces hail from the Savafid dynasty of Persia (1501–1722) and are important examples from the golden age of carpet weaving.
The first, Sickle-Leaf carpet, features an elaborate floral-on-red design with plum blossoms, vines, cypress trees, dramatic sickle leaves, and a detailed dark border. It has been written about by scholars and exhibited at the Sackler Gallery in Washington and overseas in the 1970s and 1980s. Measuring over 8 feet by 6 feet, the piece is expected to reach a price of $5 million to $7 million.
The second item, Lafões carpet, measures 44 feet in length and is expected to fetch $800,000 to $1.2 million. It has a similar color scheme to that of the Sickle-Leaf carpet and was passed down through the hands of nobility.
The carpets come from the collection of American industrialist and U.S. senator William A. Clark, who died in 1925 and left much of the estate to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington’s largest non-federal art museum. Sales, which are estimated to total $6.7 million, will benefit the museum’s future acquisitions.
Sotheby’s in New York will be holding previews for the auction beginning June 1.
