The Most Expensive Rug Ever

The Reading Eagle of Reading, PA is reporting that a Chelaberd Kazak rug sold at Freeman's Auction in Philadelphia for a world record price of $341,625. This came as a bit of a surprise in that the rug was estimated to sell for between $15,000 and $25,000. OK Maybe “a bit” of a surprise is an understatement since it sold for almost 14 times its estimated worth. This also garnered the auction house over $40,000 in “buyer's fee(s)”. Once again “a bit” of a surprise in that they should have been expecting less than $5,000. So it looks like everyone is happy. Or we hope everyone is…If the buyer doesn’t really love area rugs they could be suffering from “a bit” of buyers remorse.

Update: 1/24/07 I found a picture of the rug in the Maine Antique Digest.