The rug in third place looks inconspicuous, but has already caused a lot of trouble. The story that made it so famous is not set in the Orient, but in tranquil Augsburg.
Rug in "vase technique", Kirman, 17th century
Source: artwork: unknown - http://www.faz.net/m/%7B9C37990A-81AF-4E6A-B022-4AA25DF59F57%7Dg225_4.jpg, public domain, Link
There, an auctioneer estimated its worth at 900 euros in October 2009, and the misfortune of the old lady, who had previously owned the rug, took its course.
A short time later, the rug was auctioned and reached the initially pleasing purchase price of 20,000 euros. But the journey of the rug was not over yet: The lucky buyer turned to the famous Christie's auction house in London, which believed the blue rug from the Persian Kerman, whose slightly wavy surface is decorated with colourful flowers, leaves and branches, to be 200,000 to 300,000 British pounds.
When the rug was then auctioned for the second time in April 2010, another surprise followed: The interest of the bidders was great! A collector appeared in person and six more people submitted offers by phone. The starting bid was 150,000 pounds and was far exceeded: An anonymous bidder from the Middle East bought the rug for the equivalent of 7.5 million euros, making it the most expensive rug in the world.
A report confirmed the instinct of the buyer: The rug was originally owned by the French art lover Comtesse Martine Marie-Pol de Béhague. After she died, her nephew inherited the rug until it was auctioned in Monaco in 1987. So the rug came into the possession of a Munich rug dealer, and from there into the hands of his former housekeeper, who received the rug in gratitude. This person then bequeathed it to the old lady, who brought it to the Augsburg auctioneer, who sold it way under value at 20,000 euros.
The lady therefore went to court and demanded that the auctioneer pay the difference to the 300,000 pounds estimated by Christie's. She rejected compensation in the amount of 85,000 euros - and lost.
The auctioneer did not have to pay a penny, as he was able to prove that none of the valuers of his auction house was able to correctly assess the true value of the rug. So the dispute over the 7.5-million-euro rug came to an end. In the end, there was only one real winner: The anonymous bidder on the phone at Christie's.