Vintage Moroccan Rug BB5765 3'9" × 6'5" $8,000

This small circa-1945 vintage Moroccan rug features an intriguing all-over geometric design in shades of turqoise, brown, green and yellow against a field of tan. Precise and modernist, the vintage carpet is part of a unique weaving tradition. Moroccan rugs have typically been woven by tribal peoples for their utility rather than for decoration.

These Moroccan style area rugs 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 area 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 rugs makes them attractive to modernist collectors.