Mid-20th Century with Oval Medallion Chinese Yellow, Purple, Green Handmade Rug BB6820 13'10" × 20'2" $60,000

This circa-1930 vintage Chinese Deco rug features a striking display with an oval center medallion of radiating rays in shades of lilac, ringed with a dark green outline. Circular patterns in beige surround the medallion and the purple shade is complemented with solid circle designs in the corner brackets. The vintage carpet is an intriguing relic of one of the most elegant times in America – the Jazz Age, following a disruption of the usual Mideastern trade for luxury antique oriental rugs during the first World War. Looking to China to fill the textile vacuum, American entrepreneurs inspired a production of Western-looking variations on traditional Chinese design. The antique Chinese rugs perfectly complemented the extravagant style of the West at the time and became known as Chinese Art Deco, even though there was no Art Deco movement in China itself.