http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=33787
LONDON.- A stunning Safavid rug from late 16th or early 17th century Persia sold for £2,729,250 ($4.34M US) this afternoon at
Sotheby’s in London . The rug was purchased by an anonymous buyer after a prolonged contest in which at least five bidders vied for the piece. The price of the silk and metal-thread prayer rug was over 20 times the pre-sale estimate of £80,000 - £120,000.
The inscriptions on this fabulous prayer rug of remarkable quality and condition suggest that it may have been a diplomatic gift from the Safavid Persian court to the Ottoman Turks, indeed possibly even on the occasion of the Peace Treaty between the two empires in 1590, from the court of Shah ‘Abbas to the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (r.1574-95).
Sultan Murad Khan (سلطان مراد خان) can be easily read on the top left part.