World-Famous Carpet

World-Famous Carpet Painting for Sale

The magnificent carpet on the library floor has a story. It was commissioned in 1972 on a then-forbidden trip to Kashmir. It is based upon the oldest carpet remnant ever found, the Pazryk, discovered in permafrost in an ancient grave and now residing in the Hemitage Museum.
The Seller travelled to Kashmir in the early 70s immediately after the fragment’s discovery and commissioned a family of weavers to recreate the fragment into a complete carpet. Several copies of this original have since been produced by the family which must work full-time for several years to produce each one. Laura Bush has one and says it is her favorite possession. Rush Limbaugh had one and said it was his was his favorite possession. The academic report carried to Kashmir and the original shipping and payment documents are under glass in the library and included.
This carpet caused one international incident and almost caused another. The first was when India’s Prime Minister made a speech in Parliament saying the Seller was in Kashmir as a CIA spy and would be caught (he wasn’t). The second occurred when the Seller had a reception for the Prime Minister of British Columbia and the Governor of Alaska to discuss expanding the Alaska Railroad into Canada. The Canadian consul from Seattle attended. He was a Persian rug collector from his days at Canada’s Tehran Embassy. In the middle of the Seller’s crowded living room the consul looked down. Said “Oh my God,” handed his drink to the prime minister and got down on his hands and knees and began pushing his way through the crowd saying “oh my God. Oh my God.” Everyone thought he was drunk.