Mid-20th century Swedish Botanic Hand Knotted Wool Pile BB5499 4'3" × 5'8" $5,000

This circa-1950 vintage Swedish pile antique rug features a striking all-over checkerboard design in eye-catching hues of red, vivid plum and lilac, with abstract patterns contained inside the squares. Multiple linear borders in black and white complete the modernist impression of the vintage carpet. In Sweden, vintage carpets and Scandinavian style rugs have been hand-knotted in wool for centuries, taking on many different forms and functions over the course of time.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the craft was seen as being an important artistic and cultural practice throughout Sweden, and designers began to make rugs that had a broad international appeal. Scandinavian rugs from the mid-twentieth century, endorsed by such fixtures of modernism as Le Corbusier, Ray Eames and Frank Lloyd Wright, remain among the most desirable and sought after in the rug world.