Vintage Moroccan Rug BB5788 4'4" × 7'9" $8,000

This circa-1940 vintage Moroccan antique rug captures the eye with a stepped lozenge field in white and light beige against a field of dark brown. The stark contrast of the colors and the simplicity of the geometric design makes for a bold minimalist statement from a unique weaving tradition. Moroccan rugs have typically been woven by tribal peoples for their utility rather than for decoration.

These vintage carpets experienced a growth in popularity in the West when mid-century modern designers such as Le Corbusier paired the thick piled Berber rugs with their minimalist furniture. Many of these Berber Antique Moroccan rugs are woven by the Beni Ourain peoples from the Rif Mountains near the city of Taza in northern Morocco. Colors vary from neutral shades to bright, stand-out hues, with designs ranging from geometric simplicity to free-flowing abstraction. The primitivist feel of many Moroccan carpets makes them attractive to modernist collectors.