Persian rug from 1600s fetches record $33.7M at auction

NEW YORK A Persian rug from the early 17th century has sold for $33.7 million in New York City.

Sotheby's auction house says Wednesday's price for the Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet was more than three times the previous auction record for a carpet.

The Sickle-Leaf Carpet sold to an anonymous telephone bidder. The seller was the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The carpet was part of a collection bequeathed to Corcoran in 1926 by William A. Clark, an industrialist and U.S. senator from Montana.

The previous record price for a carpet was $9.6 million for a Persian carpet sold by Christie's in London in April 2010.

The Sickle-Leaf carpet measures 8 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 5 inches.

The price includes the auction house's premium.