Modern Lanterns
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Plastic
Early 2000s Belgian Modern Lanterns
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Blown Glass
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Lanterns
Wicker, Teak, Bentwood
2010s Turkish Modern Lanterns
Wicker, Beads
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lanterns
Copper
2010s American Modern Lanterns
Brass
2010s European Modern Lanterns
Brass, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Lanterns
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Lanterns
Metal
2010s American Modern Lanterns
Brass
2010s European Modern Lanterns
Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Lanterns
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Lanterns
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
Early 2000s Belgian Modern Lanterns
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Modern Lanterns
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
Early 2000s Belgian Modern Lanterns
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Lanterns
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Marble
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Lanterns
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Marble
1960s French Vintage Modern Lanterns
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Crystal, Brass, Gold
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Crystal, Nickel, Brass
2010s American Modern Lanterns
Steel
20th Century European Modern Lanterns
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lanterns
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lanterns
Bronze
20th Century Italian Modern Lanterns
Blown Glass
20th Century English Modern Lanterns
Metal, Tôle
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lanterns
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lanterns
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lanterns
Ebony, Maple, Cord
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Lanterns
Glass
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lanterns
Glass
1980s American Vintage Modern Lanterns
Metal, Brass
1990s Italian Modern Lanterns
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Lanterns
Brass
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Lanterns
Copper
20th Century French Modern Lanterns
Brass