A silk Persian rug, from the 16th or 17th century has sold at Christie's in New York for a record $4.45 million at auction, ( $729.87 per square inch). The rug was sold by Christie's auction house on behalf of the Newport Restoration Foundation. It was expected to fetch up to $1.5 million. The rug, which measures 7 feet, 7 inches by 5 feet, 7 inches, had been purchased by the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke in 1990. She left it to the foundation when she died.
Elisabeth Parker, head of Christie's rugs and carpets department, calls it an "amazing work of art" and says it has an intricate floral design and an unusually large number of colors, at 17.
