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Post-Modern Religious Items

POSTMODERN STYLE

Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.

ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Emerges during the 1960s; popularity explodes during the ’80s
  • A reaction to prevailing conventions of modernism by mainly American architects
  • Architect Robert Venturi critiques modern architecture in his Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966)
  • Theorist Charles Jencks, who championed architecture filled with allusions and cultural references, writes The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977)
  • Italian design collective the Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, meets for the first time (1980) 
  • Memphis collective debuts more than 50 objects and furnishings at Salone del Milano (1981)
  • Interest in style declines, minimalism gains steam

CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Dizzying graphic patterns and an emphasis on loud, off-the-wall colors
  • Use of plastic and laminates, glass, metal and marble; lacquered and painted wood 
  • Unconventional proportions and abundant ornamentation
  • Playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art

POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.

Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendinia onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.

Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group,  which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.

Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals. 

After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.

On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.

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Style: Post-Modern
Unique Vintage Handmade Postmodern Ceramic Colorful Menorah Candleholder, Signed
Located in Amityville, NY
Amazing and unique handmade ceramic Chanukah menorah candleholder. Featuring multiple different techniques and materials; stoneware, glaze, and even seemingly Raku, there are numerou...
Category

1990s American Post-Modern Religious Items

Materials

Ceramic

Arthur Secunda Acrylic Sculpture Title "Life" Signed, Numbered, 12/20
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Beautiful sculpture celebrating " Life" by the well known artist Arthur Second. This piece has a dedication under base as shown .Is signed and numbe...
Category

Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Religious Items

Materials

Acrylic

Yehia Yemini Silver Plate Candleholder, Bezalel School, Jerusalem Signed
By Yehia Yemini
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Very nice candleholder by the very well known silversmith and jeweler Yehia Yemini ( Yihye Yemini, 1896-1983) Bezalel School Jerusalem .This candleholder made in Star of David shape ...
Category

1980s Israeli Vintage Post-Modern Religious Items

Materials

Silver Plate

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Early 1900s Bronzed Terracotta Christ Sculpture Religious Bust, Signed S. Marton
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Postmodern Rimini Blue Ceramic Fish Money Box by Bitossi, Italy
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Unique Murano Glass Sculpture, Dino Rosin, Face of Jesus, 20th Century, Venice
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Antique Judaica Hannukah Menorah in Repousse Silver
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Original, Signed Massive Silver Candleholder, Koloman Moser Wiener Werkstätte
Located in Vienna, AT
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Postmodern Architecture
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Red ceramic wall cross handmade in Europe
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Postmodern Chrome Table Lighter by Sarome Japan
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Postmodern chrome table lighter. Excellent vintage condition, works great. Great decorative collectible rare vintage table lighter. Lighter made by Sarome, Asia Japan. Measure: 5.75 in H, 2.5 in D. About Sarome: SAROME Japanese cigarette lighter manufacturer founded in 1940. The brand is named after SAROME, god of flames, object of fascination for humans. SAROME artisans craft delicate, glossy lighters in Tokyo to fascinate and enchant. Though known early on in Europe mainly for our superb crafting of cigarette lighters the luxury brand spread Worldwide. Sarome lighters...
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Late 20th Century Japanese Post-Modern Religious Items

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Vintage Postmodern Chrome Table Lighter Kogen Japan, 1970s
Located in North Hollywood, CA
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Vintage Triangular Hanukkah Menorah
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Post Modern Sculptural Natural Stone and Wrought Iron Menorah
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European Ceramic Crucifix, Orange, 1960s
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European Ceramic Crucifix, Orange, 1960s
European Ceramic Crucifix, Orange, 1960s
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Dan Givon, Mezuzah with Case and Roll in Brass, Signed, Dated
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Very nice and post modern design by the well known Israeli artist, signed dated in back.
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Postmodern Lucite Menorah
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Arie Ofir, Sterling Silver, " Blessing Ball" Sphere, Hand Engraved, Marked
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Post-modern religious items for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Post-Modern religious items for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage religious items created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include more furniture and collectibles, decorative objects and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, acrylic and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Post-Modern religious items made in a specific country, there are North America, United States, and Asia pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original religious items, popular names associated with this style include Arthur Secunda, and Yehia Yemini. 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. Prices for religious items differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $275 and tops out at $2,800 while the average work can sell for $1,440.

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