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Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

MID-CENTURY MODERN STYLE

Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.

ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.

Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively. 

Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer

Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.

The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.

As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.

Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.

As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.

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Style: Mid-Century Modern
Swedish Style Flat-Weave
Located in West Hollywood, CA
The Swedish collection is inspired by popular Swedish rugs in the midcentury. Their signature geometries are realized in ?at-woven wool and have a true vintage spirit. Can be customi...
Category

2010s Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Swedish Style Flat-Weave
Located in West Hollywood, CA
The Swedish collection is inspired by popular Swedish rugs in t.he midcentury. Their signature geometries are realized in? Flat-woven wool and have a true vintage spirit...
Category

2010s Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Swedish Style Flat-Weave
Located in West Hollywood, CA
The Swedish collection is inspired by popular Swedish rugs in the midcentury. Their signature geometries are realized in? at-woven wool and have a true vintage spirit. Can be customi...
Category

2010s Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Swedish Style Flat-Weave
Located in West Hollywood, CA
The Swedish collection is inspired by popular Swedish rugs in the midcentury. Their signature geometries are realized in ?at-woven wool and have a true vintage spirit. Can be customi...
Category

2010s Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Swedish Style Flat-Weave
Located in West Hollywood, CA
The Swedish collection is inspired by popular Swedish rugs in the midcentury. Their signature geometries are realized in ?at-woven wool and have a true vintage spirit. Can be customi...
Category

2010s Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Swedish Style Flat-Weave
Located in West Hollywood, CA
The Swedish collection is inspired by popular Swedish rugs in the midcentury. Their signature geometries are realized in ?at-woven wool and have a true vintage spirit. Can be customi...
Category

2010s Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid 20th Century Swedish Rya Carpet ( 3'3" x 5'4" - 99 x 162 cm)
Located in New York, NY
Mid 20th Century Swedish Rya Carpet ( 3'3" x 5'4" - 99 x 162 cm)
Category

1950s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid 20th Century Swedish Rya Carpet ( 8' x 11'6" - 245 x 350 cm )
Located in New York, NY
Mid 20th Century Swedish Rya Carpet ( 8' x 11'6" - 245 x 350 cm )
Category

1960s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid-Century Modern Multicolored Vintage Wool Wall or Floor Carpet, 1960s Austria
Located in Vienna, AT
An amazing handmade vintage wall carpet or floor carpet, which was designed and handmade in Austria 1960s. Lovely animal pattern with five fishes in bri...
Category

1960s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Lime Green Red Accent Vintage Turkish Hand Knotted 20th Century Shag Rug
Located in New York, NY
A sweet decorative Turkish shag rug from the mid-20th century. Measures: 3'2" x 4'4".
Category

Mid-20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Modernist German Wall Rug by Ewald Kröner for Schloss Hackhausen, Germany, 1970s
Located in Kirchlengern, DE
Article: Wall rug Decade: 1970s Origin: Germany Producer: Schloss Hackhausen, Germany Design: Ewald Kröner Description: This rug is a gre...
Category

Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Cotton

Mid 20th Century Swedish Rya Carpet ( 6' x 9'8" - 182 x 2940 cm)
Located in New York, NY
Mid 20th Century Swedish Rya Carpet ( 6' x 9'8" - 182 x 2940 cm)
Category

1960s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Pair of Thick Wool Carpets, circa 1970
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Pair of thick wool carpets, circa 1970.
Category

1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

1970s English Art Moderne Tufted Carpet by Ron Nixon (9'3" x 11'9" - 282 x 358)
Located in New York, NY
Wool pile on a cotton canvas ground, jute lining. This borderless English carpet is stamped on the jute verso lining “Designed and made by Ron Nixon”. The ab...
Category

1970s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Modernist German Wall Rug by Ewald Kröner for Schloss Hackhausen, Germany, 1970s
Located in Kirchlengern, DE
Article: Wall rug Decade: 1970s Origin: Germany Producer: Schloss Hackhausen, Germany Design: Ewald Kröner This rug is a great example of 1970...
Category

Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Cotton

Mid 20th Century Rya Carpet ( 6'6" x 9'9" - 198 x 297 cm )
Located in New York, NY
Mid 20th Century Rya Carpet ( 6'6" x 9'9" - 198 x 297 cm )
Category

1950s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Signed Swedish Deco Pile Rug
Located in West Hollywood, CA
This traditional handwoven wool midcentury Swedish deco pile rug has alternating rows of checkered geometric pendants on a butter yellow field. Signed by the weaver/design studio.
Category

1950s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid 20th Century English Art Moderne Tapestry by Stefan Knapp ( 7'9" x 8'10" )
Located in New York, NY
Mid 20th Century English Art Moderne Tapestry by Stefan Knapp ( 7'9" x 8'10" - 236 x 270 )
Category

1960s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Modernist German Wall Rug by Ewald Kröner for Schloss Hackhausen, Germany, 1970s
Located in Kirchlengern, DE
Article: Wall rug Decade: 1970s Origin: Germany Producer: Schloss Hackhausen, Germany Design: Ewald Kröner This rug is a great example of 1970s pop art interior. Made in high quality handmade macrame weaving technique in Germany in the 1970s. This high quality rug was designed in the 1970s by Ewald Kröner and manufactured by his own Label Schloss Hackhausen near Dusseldorf in the Germany. It is made from cotton wool and it is still in a very good vintage condition. Fantastic coloration in different tones of grey and black and in the middle several macrame knotted...
Category

Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Cotton

Modernist Wall Rug LJ6 by Ewald Kröner, Schloss Hackhausen, Germany, 1970s No. 3
Located in Kirchlengern, DE
Article: Wall rug Decade: 1970s Origin: Germany Producer: Schloss Hackhausen, Germany Design: Ewald Kröner This rug is a great example of 1970...
Category

Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Cotton

Istrice Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed by Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossro...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Arabesco Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed by Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossroads between art and design. She is considered by many as the natural descendant of Giò Ponti, who was also a friend of her family. For this year's Milan Design Week, Barbara Frua has created a collection of rugs for the Alberto Levi Gallery...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Conchiglia Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed by Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossroads between art and design. She is considered by many as the natural descendant of Giò Ponti, who was also a friend of her family. For this year's Milan Design Week, Barbara Frua has created a collection of rugs for the Alberto Levi Gallery...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid-Century Modern Design Textural Ivory Geometric Shoowa Rug
Located in Milan, IT
Shoowa is part of our Textural collection of contemporary carpets inspired by Mid-Century Modern design classics. It's distinguished by a black low pile contrasting an ivory high pil...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid 20th Century Art Moderne Carpet ( 6' x 9'6" - 183 x 290 )
Located in New York, NY
A border less, clearly artisanal ecru close rectangular grid work shows tufts and bits in autumnal shades and totally decorates this 1960s German small carpet. Could be recent or jus...
Category

1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid 20th Century Danish Art Modern Carpet ( 5'7" x 7'9" - 170 x 236 cm )
Located in New York, NY
A Danish modern mod rug with bold interlinked rounded open rectangle pattern in yellow and olive on a creamy ground. No borders needed. High wooly pile. Looks ...
Category

1660s Antique Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Spanish Handmade Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Vintage Spanish Handmade Wool Rug Size: 13'0" × 19'7" (396 × 597 cm) Handwoven by a skilled artist from the best available materials, this Spanish style rug...
Category

Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Antique Austrian Carpet
Located in New York, NY
This thick pile carpet has a tan field with a small all-over repeating pattern of fat eight pointed brown tiles on the beige-tan field. A blue-slate border of joined cartouches with ...
Category

Early 20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Thick Wool Carpet, circa 1970
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Thick wool carpet, circa 1970.
Category

1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Wool Carpet, circa 1950
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Wool carpet, circa 1950.
Category

1950s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Shabby Chic Green Zeki Muren Turkish Deco Rug
Located in New York, NY
One of a kind shabby chic mid-20th century Turkish deco pictorial rug.
Category

20th Century Persian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Turkish Deco Throw Rug
Located in New York, NY
A one-of-a-kind weather-textured Turkish deco rug. 2'10'' x 3'9''
Category

Mid-20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Rare Jacques Borker Rug
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Beautiful, intricately designed medium pile wool carpet by one of the most important and influential textile designers of the 20th century. Not as well-known at Jean Lurcat, but cons...
Category

1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Corallo Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed by Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossroads between art and design. She is considered by many as the natural descendant of Giò Ponti, who was also a friend of her family. For this year's Milan design week, Barbara Frua has created a collection of rugs for the Alberto Levi Gallery...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Quadrato Magico Reverse Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed By Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossro...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Tangeri Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed by Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossro...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Italian Black and Colored Geometric Carpet from 1980s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian black and colored geometric carpet from 1980s Italian eclectic black carpet from 1980s with medium-size fur and colored lines in blue, red, green and yellow on a black backgr...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Trigono Cashmere Wool Chain Stitch Rug Designed by Barbara Frua
Located in Milan, IT
Barbara Frua De Angeli is a leading Milanese interior decorator and famed designer. Her work pays homage to Milan's decorative arts tradition in an eclectic fashion, often at crossroads between art and design. She is considered by many as the natural descendant of Giò Ponti, who was also a friend of her family. For this year's Milan Design Week, Barbara Frua has created a collection of rugs for the Alberto Levi Gallery...
Category

2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Rya Carpet, Swedish, Soft Colors, Mid-Century Modern
Located in Port Washington, NY
1950s Swedish Rya rug with plush wool pile. Measures: 2'11" x 9'9".
Category

Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Pablo Picasso's "Running of the Bulls" Carpet by Ege Art Rug
Located in Miami, FL
Vintage Pablo Picasso rug by Ege Art rug, Scandinavia, Mid-20th Century. A magnificent carpet by Ege Art rug, woven in Scandinavia, featuring a composition designed by Pablo Picasso....
Category

Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Midcentury carpet signed by Leleu
Located in Weiningen, CH
Midcentury carpet signed by Leleu. The marks on the carpet are from a table standing on it.
Category

1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Wooilen Carpet, circa 1970
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Vintage wooilen carpet, circa 1970
Category

1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Modernist Flat-Woven Kilim Rug Attributed to Antonín Kybal, Prague, circa 1950
By Družstevní práce, Antonín Kybal 1
Located in Berlin, DE
Big Mid-Century Modern flat-woven Kilim rug attributed to Antonín Kybal, Prague, circa 1950.
Category

1950s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Cuenca Spanish Rug
Located in Dallas, TX
76742 Vintage Cuenca Spanish Rug, 12’01 x 14’11. Hand-knotted Spanish Cuenca rugs are luxurious, intricately designed rugs that originate from the city of Cuenca, Spain. These rugs a...
Category

Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Spanish Yellow and Blue Handmade Wool Rug
Located in New York, NY
Vintage Spanish yellow, blue handmade wool rug Size: 16'6" × 17'10" (502 × 543 cm). A mid-20th century Spanish area rug, the gray field with a blue angular vinery trellis overall wit...
Category

Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Rug/Wall Art by Jean Arp Edition Marie Cuttoli/Lucie Weill
Located in East Hampton, NY
As featured in architectural digest's article (August 31, 2013) of Geoffrey Beene's guest bedroom, this rug was acquired at his estate sale after his passing. Conceived, circa 1928-1930 and executed in the 1960s by Marie Cuttoli...
Category

1960s Algerian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

French Mid-Century Modern Rug 1950's
Located in Milan, IT
A stunning modernist carpet with an allover pattern composed of irregular waves in various shades of red, light grey and black on an ivory background. The 1950s were a very creative ...
Category

1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Turkish Konya Rug
Located in New York, NY
Highly Decorative Small square shaped Vintage Turkish Konya Rug from the middle of the 20th century featuring an abrashed red field with an all-over...
Category

Mid-20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid-Century Modern Vintage Turkish Rug in Yellow Background and Multi-Colors
Located in Atlanta, GA
Measures: 4' x 7'10. Rendered in a yellow background with a spotted and speckled assortment of yellow, red, black, green and blue colors, this very unique mid-century rug has an abs...
Category

Mid-20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Garden Design Rug Monogrammed Eva Nemeth, 1970's
Located in Milan, IT
Distinguished by an abstract rendition of the Garden pattern often encountered on oriental weavings, this rug was woven in France in the early 70's, designed by the Hungarian rug and tapestry artist Eva...
Category

1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Turkish Anatolian Room Size Rug
Located in New York, NY
Room size mid-20th century Anatolian rug in crimson red and gray accents on beige/khaki ground.
Category

20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Crimson Vintage Turkish Anatolian Rug
Located in New York, NY
Room size mid-20th century Anatolian rug in crimson red.
Category

20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Rare and Decorative Cogolin Wool Carpet, France, 1970
Located in Paris, Ile-de-France
High and low loop pile carpet. Featuring a variety of circles. Hand-knotted, Cogolin, France, circa 1970.
Category

1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Carpet in blue Petrol Wool , 1950's
Located in Den Haag, NL
Carpet in blue Petrol wool, made around the 1950's
Category

1950s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Spanish Textile Flat-weave Rug
Located in New York, NY
A vintage Spanish flat-woven textile carpet from the mid-20th century.
Category

Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Vintage Italian Design Rug
Located in Milan, IT
This and the preceding carpet were commissioned in the early, 1960s for the residence of a famous Milanese furniture designer. It is probable, altho...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Rob Parry "Squares" Rug for Danish Carpets, Netherlands, circa 2000
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A beautiful Minimalist rug designed by Rob Parry, manufactured by Danish Carpets in The Netherlands, circa 2000. This model is named "Squares". The rug is overall grey, with a few...
Category

Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Fabric

Quirky Vintage Turkish Rug
Located in New York, NY
A vintage one of a kind Turkish Anatolian rug with a all-over repetitive design on a bone colored field. 5'1' x 9'8''
Category

20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Western European Rugs

Materials

Wool

Mid-century Modern western european rugs for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Mid-Century Modern western european rugs for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original western european rugs, popular names associated with this style include Nanimarquina, Ewald Kröner, Schloss Hackhausen, and Sybilla. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee.

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