Emsa Vintage
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Plastic
1970s German Industrial Emsa Vintage
Plastic
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Plastic
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Plastic
People Also Browsed
2010s American Modern Emsa Vintage
Brass, Bronze, Chrome, Nickel, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Scandinavian Modern Emsa Vintage
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Textile
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Brass
2010s Emsa Vintage
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Art Deco Emsa Vintage
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Emsa Vintage
Linen, Walnut
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary American Scandinavian Modern Emsa Vintage
Nickel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Polish Industrial Emsa Vintage
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Brutalist Emsa Vintage
Oak
2010s American Industrial Emsa Vintage
Plastic
1960s Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Velvet
1960s Space Age Emsa Vintage
Fabric, Bentwood
Recent Sales
1970s Space Age Emsa Vintage
Plexiglass
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Plastic
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Faux Leather, Plastic
1970s Czech Mid-Century Modern Emsa Vintage
Plastic
Materials: plastic Furniture
Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous man-made material, plastic has impacted nearly every industry. In contemporary spaces, new and vintage plastic furniture is quite popular and its use pairs well with a range of design styles.
From the Italian lighting artisans at Fontana Arte to venturesome Scandinavian modernists such as Verner Panton, who created groundbreaking interiors as much as he did seating — see his revolutionary Panton chair — to contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Faye Toogood, furniture designers have been pushing the boundaries of plastic forever.
When The Graduate's Mr. McGuire proclaimed, “There’s a great future in plastics,” it was more than a laugh line. The iconic quote is an allusion both to society’s reliance on and its love affair with plastic. Before the material became an integral part of our lives — used in everything from clothing to storage to beauty and beyond — people relied on earthly elements for manufacturing, a process as time-consuming as it was costly.
Soon after American inventor John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which could mimic luxury products like tortoiseshell and ivory, production hit fever pitch, and the floodgates opened for others to explore plastic’s full potential. The material altered the history of design — mid-century modern legends Charles and Ray Eames, Joe Colombo and Eero Saarinen regularly experimented with plastics in the development of tables and chairs, and today plastic furnishings and decorative objects are seen as often indoors as they are outside.
Find vintage plastic lounge chairs, outdoor furniture, lighting and more on 1stDibs.