A woman who sold an old carpet at auction for €20,000 is suing the auctioneer after it was resold as the most expensive Persian rug in the world for a record-breaking €7 million. The mid 17th-century Kirman 'vase' rug - sold on at London auctioneer's Christie's last year - had started out at an auction house in Augsburg, Germany, where a local dealer recognised it as something special and snapped it up. Now the rug's original owner - unnamed in court documents - is suing the German auctioneers for €350,000 in compensation for failing to spot the rug's true value. The auctioner told the court in Hamburg: "If I'd known what it was or how valuable it was I'd have turned it down. I'm not set up for that kind of sale." The dealer has refused a suggestion by judges to offer an out of court settlement of €80,000 saying it would bankrupt him. The case continues.
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