Handwoven Vintage and Art Deco Rugs and Carpets

While there is no single set of aesthetic values that defines the ‘vintage rug style’, there are rugs that are as an abstract Beni Ourain runner or a minimalist Swedish carpet.

These are all considered to be vintage carpets – so regardless of your personal taste or vintage aesthetic, there is surely a vintage rug in our collection that suits you.

What Makes Some Carpets Vintage Rugs?

Vintage rugs showcase what the mid 20th century was largely defined by – the experimentation and innovation in the arts, industries, the sciences and popular culture. Typically, a mid-century area rug is a rug or carpet that was produced between the 1920’s and 1970’s. These vintage rugs explore the boundaries and push the limits of textural and visual style to create designs that provide a strong sensory experience and can quickly change the look and feel of one’s interior home design.

Over the past several years, there has been a substantial increase in the popularity of certain types of vintage rugs. In the 21st century, the world has a renewed interest and vintage rugs have been returning to the forefront. This has created a surging demand for authentic mid century works of art. Of course, by their very nature, genuinely vintage carpets and carpets exist in a fixed number. Although modernised productions continue to come out, despite how authentically ‘vintage’ its design is, it is not, by definition, truly vintage. Vintage rug styles are exciting and dynamic examples of the various artistic developments of the mid 20th century, and each own have their own story to tell.

The diversity seen in these productions may be one of the secrets behind their renewed popularity. These marvelous carpets feature formal geometric motifs, whimsical folk-art influences and colourful Deco inspired designs that are truly abstract. Whether collectors and designers are seeking a luxurious long-pile Rya or charming flat-woven vintage rugs from Scandinavia, the most versatile and colourful rugs, make superb statement pieces.

Beautiful Vintage Rugs And Interiors

As opposed to antique rugs, vintage carpets include abstract, pop-art, artist designed, surrealist and minimalist styles. These vintage pieces were able to set or keep pace with the ever-changing interior decor trends. In many ways, the new and innovative trends that were developed during the mid 20th century, were based upon a revival of folklore and traditions that were turned on their ear to become a new genre.

In Paris, Le Corbusier made this revival of the old and unusual, popular. He was able to do so by transforming the abstract and textural Berber carpets into high-design pieces. While in Scandinavia and Denmark, the patrimonial Danish design trends reached an unprecedented level of global popularity through manufacturers like Ege as well as other professional weavers.

Like the aesthetic movement of the late 1800’s and the Luddites (who destroyed the British power looms in the early 1800’s), the artists and master weavers who created vintage rugs during the mid 20th century also rebelled against the increasing industrialisation of carpet production.

Ege Rya and other manufacturers used hand-made woven techniques borrowed from Axminster to produce durable machine-made rugs and shag carpets. Meawhile, a separate group of designers were dedicated to producing hand-made carpets and involving themselves in all aspects of production.

Ironically, the designers specialising in handwoven vintage rugs have often been the product of industrialisation. These designers were schooled in industrial design and textile art production to meet the growing vintage carpet demands. The designers developed their own unique styles which often included influences from local or regional history and folklore.

The Beauty of Vintage Rugs

In recent years, vintage carpets and rugs such as Moroccan rugs and Scandinavian rugs have swelled in popularity for a wide variety of interiors. Most notably, a mid-century modern decor benefits best from these artistic masterpieces. They can draw a room together, transforming it from sparse and minimal to cozy, inviting and luxurious, without breaking the bank.

Their popularity comes from their ease of use and the wide range of colour palette options, not to mention their uniqueness in design. Indeed, the fact that these vintage rugs are as desirable as they are is a testament to two things: first, to the incredible craftsmanship that went into the original composition and, second, to their enduring beauty.

Vintage carpets Sweden and Morocco are among the most desirable and sought-after commodities in the art world and are one of the greatest values. Swedish rugs of the early and mid 20th century are hugely sought after due to their incredible artistic qualities and superior craftsmanship.

Swedish weaving tradition reaches back hundreds of years when encounters with eastern civilisations taught Scandinavians how to create the lushly woven, warm Rya rugs that are still made today.

In the 20th century, aesthetics evolved and the Swedes called for flat-woven kilim rugs with simple, geometric patterns. Rollakans, as they are called, are Swedish national treasures and many of the vintage pieces we might buy for our home were created for government funded regional Arts and Crafts fairs.

For Swedish rug designers in the early 20th century, the production of rugs and textiles was raised to an art form, which had a great international appeal. A fresh and appealing aesthetic was sustained during the first half of the 20th century by the weaving of the celebrated Swedish carpet designer, Marta Maas Fjetterstom and her peers. The simplicity and purity of design in vintage Scandinavian rugs gives them an immediate relevance and contemporary allure.

View Photo Gallery and Pictures of Mid-Century Modern, Vintage Rugs

Show Less …