Agence France Presse is on the scene to record the maharajah of Baroda’s carpet sale:

Sotheby’s auction house said it had expected bidding for the Pearl Carpet of Baroda to start at five million dollars and believed it would fetch a much higher price. But the starting price was brought down to 4.5 million dollars because there were few buyers, Sotheby’s spokesman Habib Basha told AFP in Doha.

“We had to reduce the opening bid to 4.5 million and the pearl carpet (eventually) sold at 5.458 million dollars,” including commission and fees, he said. The eventual buyer was one of three bidders but he wishes to remain anonymous, Basha added.

Prophet’s tomb pearl carpet sells for $5.458 mln (AFP)

Pearl Carpet of Baroda Sells for Record $5.5m in Qatar (Bloomberg)