Vintage Moroccan Rug BB6039 7'0" × 10'0" $28,000

This circa-1930 vintage Moroccan rug has an all-over design of geometric and botanical abstractions in shades of blue, yellow and red against a field of abrashed ice blue, surrounded by multiple thick borders of maroon containing more geometrics and stylized flowers. It is an elaborate tableau of the tribal and modernist in one piece. 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 carpets 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.