By JULIET HUANG

Auction house Sotheby's last week announced the sale of the Pearl Carpet of Baroda, which forms the centerpiece of ‘Arts of the Islamic World’ for almost US$5.5 million at an inaugural series of sales held in Doha, Qatar.

The Pearl Carpet of Baroda was a masterpiece in its time, with a surface created using an estimated two million natural ‘Basra’ seed pearls. Its entire design is picked out in colored glass beads, which are richly encrusted with gold set diamonds and precious stones.

Historical literature texts suggest that the carpet was one of the items in a complete set, which consists of four rectangular pieces, a circular piece and four finials.

The design of the carpet repeats details found in Safavid and Mughal carpet designs with dense fields of swirling flowering vines that form a deconstructed series of three Mughal-style arches. Parts of the design also reflect 18th-century India’s fashionable millefleurs motifs of very finely woven pashmina shawls and rugs of Northern India.

Three large round ‘rosettes’ made out of table cut diamonds and set in silvered gold can be found in the center while the border is embellished with sapphires, rubies and emeralds set in gold.

The carpet has a long history: it was believed to have been created as a gift for the tomb of the Prophet Mohammad in Medina and was commissioned by “Gaekwar” Kande Rao, then the Maharaja of Baroda in 1865. The intended gift was never delivered as the Maharaja died before he made the donation and the carpet has remained in his family until now.

Images are taken from Luxuo.

Sotheby's