One-of-a-kind French Art Deco Orange & Red Handwoven Wool Rug by Paule Leleu BB4696 9'10" × 14'9" $20,000

A French Deco rug designed by Paule Leleu (1906-87), the daughter of the French sculptor and designer, Jules Leleu, who took over as chief antique carpet designer after Da Silva Bruhns at her father’s business.

Although generally vintage 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 area rug from Tabriz may be easily confused with a similar creation coming from a different weaving center, or even a different country, like Turkey, Vintage oriental 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 European deco rug designs and show which way of thinking and historical background influenced particular weaving styles.

Art Deco is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. The Art Deco movement led to a fast evolution of the rug and textile design, among other art forms. Rug design evolved from traditional floral and highly ornamental to a style of angular elegance with geometric, abstract and modern figurative motifs. The design is frequently spare, geometric, and architectural. The rugs created during this period remain elegant and refined to this day.