Issue 228 · Summer 2026·Kazakh embroidered suede robes, Two 16th-century weavings linked by powerful art dealers, An inscribed Caucasian dowry rug and its matrimonial symbolism
'Polonaise' Carpets: Inside Three Decades of Record-Breaking Persian Carpet Auction Prices
'Polonaise' carpets have dominated Persian carpet auctions for decades, from King Umberto II's silk carpet to the record-breaking Pommersfelden rugs. This review traces their unrivalled price history — one glimpse into HALI's rich archive of sale and provenance data.
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Daniel Shaffer
·6 min read·31 Jul 2026·
1 ‘Polonaise’ all-silk rug, probably Esfahan, central Persia, late 16th century. 1.70 x 2.31 m (5' 7" x 7' 7"). Christie’s, New York, 3 June 2008, lot 37, estimate $1,000,000- 1,500,000, sold for $4,450,500
Almost three decades ago, before a carpet of any description had recorded a price at public auction of more than one million US dollars, a list of the top ten carpets sold at auction included six so-called ‘Polonaises’ (HALI 87, 1996, p. 161).
While not proven, ‘Polonaises’ are usually thought to have been made in court-patronised Armenian-run workshops in New Julfa (Esfahan) during the 17th-century reigns of Shah Abbas the Great and Shah Abbas II. With silk pile and precious metal-thread brocading, in both long and short formats, and in a range of qualities, they were traded, sometimes via Armenian networks, to Europe (and elsewhere). They were also utilised as expensive diplomatic gifts to European princes, thereby establishing the brand’s status as must-have luxuries for royalty, nobility and individuals of great wealth.
3
‘Polonaise’ carpet, Esfahan, central Persia, 17th century. Silk pile with metal-thread brocading, 1.76 x 4.10 m (5' 9" x 13' 6"). Sotheby’s, London, 17 October 1984, sold for £441,500 ($691,390)
Back in 1996, the most costly of the ‘Polonaise’ genre at auction was the spectacular silk and long carpet from the Estate of King Umberto II of Italy (3), which sold at Christie’s, London in April 1993 for £441,500/$691,390 (HALI 69, p. 148), having previously made £176,ooo/$210,950 at Sotheby’s in London in October 1984, when a short rug from the same source sold for £198,000/$245,650 (HALI 25, p. 81). The King Umberto short ‘Polonaise’ subsequently fetched $690,000 at Sotheby’s, New York in October 2015 (HALI 186, p.143).
4
‘Polonaise’ carpet, Esfahan, central Persia, 17th century. Silk pile with metal thread, 1.75 x 4.27 m (5' 9" x 14' 0"). Christie’s, London, 20 October 1994, lot 571, estimate £300-400,000, sold for £419,500 ($679,590)
Second in the 1996 ranking was the Battilossi long carpet (4). Acquired by the Turin dealer at Sotheby’s, New York in June 1988 for $264,000 (HALI 40, p. 79), it sold at Christie’s in London in October 1994 for £419,500/$679,500 (HALI 78, p. 133). The Battilossi carpet was followed in the 1996 list by two short rugs, both at Sotheby’s, New York in December 1990 (HALI 55, p. 162).
One, misattributed to Kashan on account of its all-silk foundation and lack of metallic thread, was probably woven in the late 16th century and could be called a ‘proto-Polonaise’ (1). Published in Pope’s Survey (1938/9, pl. 1261), its provenance included Kouchakji Frères, Grace Rainey Rogers (who sold it at Parke-Bernet in 1943) and Hagop Kevorkian. In 1990 it fetched $506,000, bought by the American heiress Doris Duke (d. 1993) for her mansion, Rough Point, in Newport, Rhode Island. In June 2008 it was consigned to Christie’s, New York by the Doris Duke Collection and the Newport Restoration Foundation, setting a then world record price of $4,450,500 (HALI 156, p .27). The other, also once in the Kevorkian collection (Sotheby’s, London, 1969, £6,600/$15,840), and latterly in theGetty collection, made $440,000.
2
‘Polonaise’ rug, Esfahan, central Persia, ca. 1600–25. Silk pile with metal-thread brocading, 1.45 x 2.01 m (4' 7" x 6' 5"). Christie’s, London, 2 May 2019, lot 255, estimate £550,000-750,000, sold for £3,724,750 ($4,853,270)
The fifth ‘Polonaise’ on the 1996 list sold in October 1982 at Sotheby’s in London for £231,000/$397,000 (HALI 5/2, p. 196), while the sixth, a long carpet from the Bernheimer collection, made £243,500/$375,000 at Christie’s in London in February 1996 (HALI 86, p. 133).
Since 1996, the bar has been raised considerably, with fivepieces passing the two million dollar mark and a further three going above one million. Top of the pile are the two splendid Pommersfelden rugs at Christie’s in London in May 2019 (HALI 201, p.134): one sold for £3,895,000/$5,075,100 and the other £3,724,750/$4,853,270 (2). In third place comes the Duke rug (1), followed by the Adolphe Rothschild rug at Christie’s, London in March 2022 (£2,322,000/ $3,053,985) and, in the same rooms, in April 2021, the Pia Falco rug (£2,062,500/$2,846,250). At Sotheby’s, London, the Rockefeller rug made £922,500/$1,267,680 in October 2021, while most recently, at Christie’s in London in October 2024, a long carpet once with the Konoike family in Osaka fetched £945,000/$1,226,065 (see Auction Price Guide).
