Novica Glass Vase
Late 20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Blown Glass
People Also Browsed
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Glass, Ribbon, Murano Glass, Blown Glass, Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Murano Glass, Sommerso, Uranium Glass, Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Jars
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Murrine
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bottles
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vases
Art Glass
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
A Close Look at mid-century-modern Furniture
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
- Emerged during the mid-20th century
- Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
- A heyday of innovation in postwar America
- Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
- A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
- Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
- Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
- Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
- Promotion of functionality
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
- Charles and Ray Eames
- Eero Saarinen
- Milo Baughman
- Florence Knoll
- Harry Bertoia
- Isamu Noguchi
- George Nelson
- Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa
ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS
- Eames lounge chair
- Nelson daybed
- Florence Knoll sofa
- Egg chair
- Womb chair
- Noguchi coffee table
- Barcelona chair
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.
On the Origins of brazilian
More often than not, vintage mid-century Brazilian furniture designs, with their gleaming wood, soft leathers and inviting shapes, share a sensuous, unique quality that distinguishes them from the more rectilinear output of American and Scandinavian makers of the same era.
Commencing in the 1940s and '50s, a group of architects and designers transformed the local cultural landscape in Brazil, merging the modernist vernacular popular in Europe and the United States with the South American country's traditional techniques and indigenous materials.
Key mid-century influencers on Brazilian furniture design include natives Oscar Niemeyer, Sergio Rodrigues and José Zanine Caldas as well as such European immigrants as Joaquim Tenreiro, Jean Gillon and Jorge Zalszupin. These creators frequently collaborated; for instance, Niemeyer, an internationally acclaimed architect, commissioned many of them to furnish his residential and institutional buildings.
The popularity of Brazilian modern furniture has made household names of these designers and other greats. Their particular brand of modernism is characterized by an émigré point of view (some were Lithuanian, German, Polish, Ukrainian, Portuguese, and Italian), a preference for highly figured indigenous Brazilian woods, a reverence for nature as an inspiration and an atelier or small-production mentality.
Hallmarks of Brazilian mid-century design include smooth, sculptural forms and the use of native woods like rosewood, jacaranda and pequi. The work of designers today exhibits many of the same qualities, though with a marked interest in exploring new materials (witness the Campana Brothers' stuffed-animal chairs) and an emphasis on looking inward rather than to other countries for inspiration.
Find a collection of vintage Brazilian furniture on 1stDibs that includes chairs, sofas, tables and more.
Finding the Right vases for You
Whether it’s a Chinese Han dynasty glazed ceramic wine vessel, a work of Murano glass or a hand-painted Scandinavian modern stoneware piece, a fine vase brings a piece of history into your space as much as it adds a sophisticated dynamic.
Like sculptures or paintings, antique and vintage vases are considered works of fine art. Once offered as tributes to ancient rulers, vases continue to be gifted to heads of state today. Over time, decorative porcelain vases have become family heirlooms to be displayed prominently in our homes — loved pieces treasured from generation to generation.
The functional value of vases is well known. They were traditionally utilized as vessels for carrying dry goods or liquids, so some have handles and feature an opening at the top (where they flare back out). While artists have explored wildly sculptural alternatives over time, the most conventional vase shape is characterized by a bulbous base and a body with shoulders where the form curves inward.
Owing to their intrinsic functionality, vases are quite possibly versatile in ways few other art forms can match. They’re typically taller than they are wide. Some have a neck that offers height and is ideal for the stems of cut flowers. To pair with your mid-century modern decor, the right vase will be an elegant receptacle for leafy snake plants on your teak dining table, or, in the case of welcoming guests on your doorstep, a large ceramic floor vase for long tree branches or sticks — perhaps one crafted in the Art Nouveau style — works wonders.
Interior designers include vases of every type, size and style in their projects — be the canvas indoors or outdoors — often introducing a splash of color and a range of textures to an entryway or merely calling attention to nature’s asymmetries by bringing more organically shaped decorative objects into a home.
On 1stDibs, you can browse our collection of vases by material, including ceramic, glass, porcelain and more. Sizes range from tiny bud vases to massive statement pieces and every size in between.
- What is a fluted glass vase?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022A fluted glass vase is an open-topped decorative vessel made out of glass that has a finely ribbed surface. People often use fluted vases as standalone decorations and for arranging flowers. On 1stDibs, find a variety of vintage and antique glass vases.
- How do I date glass vases?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022To date glass vases, search for a maker's mark, usually located on the bottom of the piece. Find the marking on an authoritative online resource and use details about the style of the vase to estimate the age. A licensed appraiser can help you date unmarked vases. Shop a collection of expertly vetted antique and vintage glass vases on 1stDibs.
- How are glass vases made?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 22, 2024Glass vases are typically made by glass-blowing. Although techniques vary, glass-blowing generally involves heating glass components to very high temperatures to liquefy them. Then, artisans blow air into the glass through a long tube to shape it. On 1stDibs, shop a diverse assortment of glass vases from some of the world's top sellers.
- 1stDibs ExpertMay 5, 2023To tell if you have a swung vase, first examine the seam along the body. On swung vases, this seam is usually more prominent near the base and becomes fainter and fainter as it travels upward toward the neck. Also, swung vases tend to have irregularly shaped pinched or dipped openings. Find a collection of swung vases on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 31, 2023To tell if a Murano glass vase is real, look for the name of the shop that produced it on the bottom. Then, use trusted online resources to determine if the workshop is in Murano, Italy. Bear in mind that authentic pieces normally do not have the word "Murano" on their labels. If you need assistance authenticating a particular vase, you may wish to enlist the help of a certified appraiser or experienced antique dealer. Shop a collection of Murano glass vases on 1stDibs.
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