Most Expensive Rugs and Carpets Sold at Auction (All Time)

About This Dataset

Oriental and decorative rugs ranked by hammer price at public auction in millions of USD. The Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet, a 17th-century Persian vase carpet from the Safavid period, sold at Christie's New York in 2013 for $33.7 million — the highest price ever achieved for a carpet at auction, reflecting its extraordinary state of preservation, the refinement of its design, and the premium collectors place on Safavid Persian rugs above all other textile art from any culture or period.

Analysis

Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet (17th C, Persia) heads the table on 33.7, ahead of Kirman Vase Carpet (17th C, Persia) (9.60) and Emperor's Carpet (17th C, Persia) (6.20) in Auction Price (Million USD) in 2016. 30.8 separates the highest figure (33.7) from the lowest (2.90). Most of that gap is between first and second alone (24.1 of 30.8); the other 7 are separated by just 6.70. Places 3 to 8 are close together, spanning 6.20 to 2.90.

Source: Wikipedia

Key Findings

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Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet (17th C, Persia) leads in Auction Price (Million USD) with 33.70 in 2016.

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2013 recorded the highest combined total across all categories.

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Gap in 2016: Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet (17th C, Persia) is 11.6× larger than Transylvanian Rug (17th C, Ottoman).

Most Expensive Rugs and Carpets Sold at Auction (All Time)

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Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

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Data Points

8 categories · 6 years

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Top Value

33.70

Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet (17th C, Persia)

Auction Price (Million USD) · 2013

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Metrics

Auction Price (Million USD)

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Period

2008 – 2016

6 years of data

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia
Coverage: 8 entities · 2008–2016 (6 years) · 8 observations
Measure: Auction Price (Million USD)
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
Missing years are left empty rather than estimated — no interpolation, no carrying a previous year forward.
Change is measured between the first and last year in which an entity actually reported a value, so a series that starts late is not penalised for the years before it existed.
The compound annual rate is (last ÷ first)^(1 ÷ years) − 1, using those same two reported years.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2016.
An entity that reported nothing in the latest year is still listed — it follows the ranked entities in the table rather than being dropped.

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Auction Price (Million USD) · ranked by 2016

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	2008	2010	2011	2013	2015	2016	Change
🥇	Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet (17th C, Persia)	—	—	—	33.70	—	—	—
🥈	Kirman Vase Carpet (17th C, Persia)	—	9.60	—	—	—	—	—
🥉	Emperor's Carpet (17th C, Persia)	—	—	—	6.20	—	—	—
4	Ardabil Carpet Pair (16th C, Persia)	—	5.50	—	—	—	—	—
5	Star Ushak Carpet (16th C, Turkey)	—	—	—	—	4.80	—	—
6	Ming Dynasty Dragon Carpet (16th C, China)	—	—	4.10	—	—	—	—
7	Safavid Polonaise Carpet (17th C, Persia)	3.70	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Transylvanian Rug (17th C, Ottoman)	—	—	—	—	—	2.90	—