Ege Rya rug with Torsten Johansson attributed design

Measuring just over 140 x 200cm, this vintage art rug was produced by Ege Rya in the mid to late 1960s. It carries a Galaxy Collection label, one of the brands – along with Scandinavian Folklore Carpets – that was used by Ege for the export market. The label indicates that, like all Ege Rya rugs, it is both colourproof and mothproof. 

 

The pure wool rug has an abstract design in salmon, coral, terracotta, claret and aubergine that is strikingly similar to artworks by Torsten Johansson (see images), an artist and designer whose work was very prominent in Denmark at the time the rug was made. Ege never credited the designers of their ryas during this period, but Johansson's territory was not just fine art – he designed many items for domestic use in the 1960s including coat hangers, wine racks and chairs – so it is quite possible that the artwork for this rug was created by him. Indeed, that seems rather more likely than the alternative: that Ege commissioned someone else to produce a design so derivative that no-one at the time could have failed to see the similarity.

 

The rug is in excellent condition with a little wear at the ends (but not at the sides), the worst of which is pictured alongside and can be seen at the near end in the main image.