Story of a dealer from Milan buying a valuable Turkish carpet in the US. The article is from Los Angeles Times, dated July 16th, 2005.

It tells the story of a Turkish carpet produced in Karapinar, a village of Konya in the mid 16th century and how it was sold in the auction.

The price estimate of the auction house who didn't know much about the carpet and its history was between $5,000-$10,000. But the price goes up with many interested bidders from all around the world in $10,000 increments. Finally Moshe Tabibnia, a famous carpet-rug dealer from Milan buys the ancient Karapinar carpet for $270,000. Including the sales commission of the auction house, the total price paid for the carpet is $297,000.Here is an excerpt from the article:


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Origins of a Masterpiece

Karapinar, which means "black spring," is a village about an hour's rough drive east of Konya, the commercial hub of Turkey's heartland and historic home of the Sufi whirling dervishes.

Standing on the village's main road, across from the ruins of a once-grand stopover for caravans traversing the Silk Road, it's hard to imagine that Karapinar was ever the center of anything.

But serious collectors know that some of the finest rugs came from Karapinar, where the women who wove them were said to be both beautiful and gifted, where the sheep were said to produce the finest wool and where the acidic mountain springs produced the most vibrant dyes.

Women in the region's villages and nomadic encampments usually produced carpets for home use. As a result, few old rugs have survived everyday wear and tear.

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For the full article, you can use the following link:

Swept off His Feet by a Carpet