Vintage Viennese Rug BB1035 8'11" × 12'5" $50,000

A two-toned early 20th century Viennese antique carpet, the ochre field with a simple gold architectural pattern overall with a central square containing small squares, half-moon side panels with seed pearls all within a linear frame.

Although generally vintage runner rugs from all places in the world share certain common features and are rather distinguishable from antique carpets, they differ quite significantly from one another depending on the exact place of their origin. While a Persian antique rug from Tabriz may be easily confused with a similar creation coming from a different weaving center, or even a different country, like Turkey, European deco rugs, especially those from the first half of the 20th century, are much more diverse in terms of style and applied patterns. Inspired by new trends back then yet still deeply rooted in tradition, and sometimes folklore, of a given country, vintage carpets exhibit an immense array of designs and aesthetics characteristic to nations that produced them. We would like to present some major categories of vintage rug designs and show which way of thinking and historical background influenced particular weaving styles.