Corcoran's Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet breaks world record at Sotheby's Auction

"Excuse me, I'm not used to this," laughed an embarrassed Mary Jo Otsea, senior consultant for rugs and carpets at Sotheby's, as she passed the $16 million mark for Lot 12. The auctioneer accidentally slipped and said $16,000, a value closer to the $5 - $7 million estimate that Sotheby's expected the Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet rug to sell for. Sixteen million seemed high, but the number crept higher, in $500,000 increments, until it reached $30 million, breaking the world record for carpets sold a...