$10M antique Persian carpet sets new record at auction

A 17th-century carpet previously in the renowned collection of Martine Marie Pol, Comtesse de Béhague, set a new world record at auction last month. The de Behague carpet, made in the Kirman region of south Persia, was hammered down at Christie’s for £6.2m (about $10m USD), almost doubled the previous record set by the Pearl Carpet of Baroda at Sotheby’s last year. Journalist Charles Recknagel did a much better job with the backstory that I could, so I’ll refer you to his post on the Tea and Carpets blog. [E]ven as Christie’s evaluators widely publicized the carpet’s pedigree before the auction, they badly underestimated what price the carpet might command.…