Press Rele ease New York Y

For I Immediate Release e

New York | +1 212 60 7176 | Lauren Gioia | Lauren.Gioia@Sothebys 06 s.com | Ali Malizia | Alexandra.Ma a alizia@Sothebys.c com

Sotheb to Offer Import Ca S bys O tant arpets from The Colle ection of Willliam A Clark A.
Sold by the Co y orcoran Gallery of Art to Benefit Future Acquisit G o o t tions

The Clark Sickle-Leaf Carp early 17th cen tury, est. $5/7 m pet, million

5 JUNE 20 NEW YORK J 013 W

NEW YOR 28 Febr RK, ruary 2013 On 5 Jun 2013, Sot ne thebys will o offer Importa Carpets f ant from the Collection of William A. Clark on beh of the Co o half orcoran Galle of Art in a dedicated auction in Ne York. ery ew Comprising 25 rugs and carpets from the 16th and 17th centuries the group in s, of mportant ncludes one o the most im he kle-Leaf Car pet, as well a one of the most majes The as e stic, and revered carpets in th world, The Clark Sick pet. Both ep pitomize the pinnacle of we p eaving attaine during the Safavid dynasty in Persia (1501 ed e a Lafes Carp 1722) and are extraordinarily beautifu works of art William A.. Clark (1839 a ul t. 91925), an A American ind dustrialist and later U.S Senator fro the state of Montana, bequeathed much of his c S. om o collection to t Corcoran Gallery the n of Art in 192 including these rugs an carpets, wh have rem 26, nd hich mained at the museum eve since. The offering e er is estimated to bring in excess of $6.7 million, and proceeds wi ll benefit futu acquisition Highlight will be 7 ure ts ns.

on view at Sothebys during the Asia Week sales in March, and the complete exhibition will open on 1 June 2013 at our York Avenue galleries.

It is exceedingly rare for a collection of carpets of this importance to appear on the market, noted Mary Jo Otsea, Senior Consultant, Rugs & Carpets at Sothebys. The June auction recalls the landmark sales held by our predecessor firm, the American Art Association, in the 1920s from the Collections of Vitall & Leopold Benguiat, sources for many of Senator Clark's carpet purchases. It is a privilege and a highlight of my 30-year career to handle The Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet in particular, which is without question one of the most iconic and important carpets ever to appear at auction. With masterworks such as The Sickle-Leaf and Lafes Carpets, the offering is certain to appeal to collectors at the highest level across numerous categories.

Philip Brookman, Chief Curator and Head of Research at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, commented, The deaccession and sale of these carpets will keep alive Senator Clarks generous legacy by enabling us to grow our core collections and make dynamic acquisition choices that will enrich and inform the Corcorans community for decades to come. We are also pleased that these remarkable carpets, which have been exhibited infrequently at the Corcoran and lie far outside the scope of our current mission, may now enter more appropriate collections through this sale.

The Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet (est. $5/7 million) is one of the benchmarks by which Persian weavings of the 17th century are measured. This finely woven carpet displays a rare design which is beautifully executed and features plum blossoms, vines and cypress trees, all punctuated by elongated, curving sickle-leaves. The carpet was lauded and published in the seminal A Survey of Persian Art by Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman in 1939, as well as illustrated in Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Maurice Dimand and Jean Mailey, published in 1973. It has been included in several important exhibitions including Carpets of Central Persia held in Sheffield and Birmingham, U.K. as part of the World of Islam Festival in 1976 and published in the accompanying catalogue written by renowned scholar May H. Beattie. It was also exhibited at the Hayward Gallery in London during the fourth International Conference on Oriental Carpets in 1983. More recently, this carpet, the Lafes Carpet, and four others included in the auction were exhibited at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the tenth International Conference on Oriental Carpets held there in 2003.

The Lafes Carpet, the largest piece in the collection, is an Isphahan carpet measuring 44 feet in length, giving true meaning to the term palace carpet (est. $800,000/1.2 million, below). Its design is comprised of
2

palmettes an curling lea nd aves that fill the carpet in a balanced a harmonio fashion. T carpet wa in the t and ous This as hands of nob bility, having previously be in the co een ollection of D uke Don Gaetano de Bra aganza (1856 61927), before passin through th hands of Vitall Benguiat and being a ng he V t acquired by W William A. Cla It was featured on ark. the floor of a large paintin gallery in Senator Clarks New York m ng S mansion.

ollection inclu a round Ottoman Ca ude O airene carpet (est. $80/12 t 20,000) onc in the ce Other highlights in the co f f n, t us aise rugs an a pristine c nd condition collection of the Duke of Sforza, Milan as well as three luxuriou silk Polona Isphahan ca arpet from th mid-17th century (est. $150/200,,000) that w in the possession of A he . was American financier, ph hilanthropist and collector Henry G. Marquand un 1903, wh it was pu a r M ntil hen urchased by Clark at auction.
About the Corcoran C The Corcora Gallery of Art, a private funded ins an f ely stitution, was f founded in 18 869. It was Am mericas first d dedicated art museum and today is Washington largest no ns onfederal mus seum of art. It is known internationally for its distinguished collection of historical and modern Ame d d erican art as w as contem well mporary art, ph hotography, E European painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts. In additio a dynamic schedule of s a on, special exhibit tions is complemented and enhanced by a range of educational programming which toget o l g, ther seek to enrich perspect tives, support the local arts commun and encou nity, urage interpre etation. The Corcoran Co llege of Art + Design was founded in 18 C 890 and stands as Wa ashingtons only four-year co ollege of art and design, off fering BFA de egrees in Digit Media Des tal sign, Fine Art, Fine Art Photography Graphic De t y, esign, Interior Design, and Photojournalis a BA in A Studies; a five-year sm; Art Bachelor of Fine Arts/Mas of Arts in Teaching (BF F ster FA/MAT); an AFA in Digit Media Des tal sign, Fine Art, Graphic Design, and Photography; and MA degrees in Art an the Book, A Education,, Exhibition D nd Art Design, Interior Design, r Master of Ar in Teaching and New Media Photojo rts g, M ournalism. The Colleges Co e ontinuing Edu ucation progra offers am part-time cre and non-c edit credit classes for children and adults and draws more than 2,500 p f d participants ea year. ach For more info ormation abou the Corcora Gallery of Art and Col lege of Art + Design, visit www.corcoran ut an f n.org.

Rugs & Carp at Sothebys pets Sothebys is the undispute leader in th field of Ru & Carpet s. For decades, Sothebys has achieved the top ed he ugs d gs s a s ollections, prices for rug and carpets from Persia, France, India and Turkey and held sales of the most important co including Ca arpets from the J Paul Getty Museum (1990) a t G m and Carpets from the Estate of Vojte Blau ech (2006). Sothebys establ lished a new benchmark for any carpet a auction in 2 b at 2009 with th sale in Doh of the he ha Pearl Carpet of Baroda whic achieved $5.5 million. Other notable prices include $4.3 million for a Safavid s Wool ch O e silk, and Metal-thr read Prayer Ru (2009), $3 million for a Safavid voiided silk velvet metal thread strip and bouc figural ug 3.4 r t cl panel from Persia (2009), $2 million fo a Safavid An , or nimal and Tree Carpet from the Collection of Lily and E e n Edmond J Safra (2005), and most re ecently, a late 16th century Safavid Carpet sold for $1.9 million this pa January. S S t ast Sothebys
3

also holds the record for any Islamic work of art at auction - an illustrated folio from the Shahnameh, made for Shah Tahmasp of Persia, sold for $12.2 million in 2006.
FOR MORE NEWS FROM SOTHEBYS Visit: www.sothebys.com/en/inside/services/press/news/news.html Follow: www.twitter.com/sothebys Join: www.facebook.com/sothebys & www.weibo.com/sothebyshongkong Watch: www.youtube.com/sothebys Sothebys has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sothebys became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sothebys presents auctions in 8 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sothebys BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids in real-time from anywhere in the world. Sothebys offers collectors the resources of Sothebys Financial Services, the worlds only full-service art financing company, as well as private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Contemporary Art department, as well as Sothebys Diamonds and Sothebys Wine. Sothebys has a global network of 90 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID). Estimates do not include buyers premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyers premium. Images are available upon request All catalogues are available online at www.sothebys.com or through Sothebys Catalogue iPad App.