Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Walnut
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel
20th Century French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome, Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plaster, Plywood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Marble, Aluminum, Brass
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Walnut
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ash
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass
2010s Japanese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Carrara Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Carrara Marble
2010s Brazilian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Other
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Rock Crystal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Oak
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Egyptian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Straw
2010s Egyptian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Straw
2010s Egyptian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete
2010s Palestinian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
Late 20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Hardwood
2010s Venezuelan Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
Late 20th Century North American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Marble, Aluminum, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Mahogany, Satinwood
2010s Swedish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Cedar
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plaster, Plywood
2010s Belgian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete, Other
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete, Other
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete, Other
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
Early 2000s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel