Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
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
- Ettore Sottsass
- Robert Venturi
- Alessandro Mendini
- Michele de Lucchi
- Michael Graves
- Nathalie du Pasquier
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 Mendini — a 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
Pair of American Mid-Century Modern Chrome and Wood Coffee Tables
Located in New York, NY
Pair of American Mid-Century Modern (1950s) square low coffee / end tables with a wood top supported by a chrome base and four legs (Related item: MP0107A)
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Chrome
American Modern Design Faux Ivory Coffee Table
Located in New York, NY
American Modern design rectangular coffee table with faux ivory brick design surface. (from the estate of Pamela Harriman)
Category
20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Missisquoi 01 Coffee Table (Edition 9 of 13) by Simon Johns
By Simon Johns
Located in East-Bolton, Quebec
Missisquoi 01 is a numbered and asymmetrical two part coffee or cocktail table, with a space that divides it as the river divides the Missisquoi Valley. The black ashwood was felled, milled and dried near the studio, and the stone is from the river's banks. The stone and plank that support the two parts form a continuous axis end to end, through the divide. The beauty of the Brutalist natural stone contrasts and converses with the delicate craftsmanship of the wood plateau...
Category
2010s Canadian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Stone
Porfido Coffee Table by Piero Gilardi for Gufram Limited Edition, 1974
Located in Vienna, AT
Rare limited edition table by Piero Gilardi from 1974.
This is an early piece numbered 37/500
Measurements are 38 x 26 x 14 inches.
Resembling an ancient engraved piece of stone,...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Polystyrene
Marc D'Haens Belgian Modern Cast Copper and Quartz Coffee Table
Located in New York, NY
Belgian Modern design round sculptural cast copper coffee table with inset quartz stone on a copper and brass base (by MARC D'HAENS)
Category
20th Century Belgian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Quartz, Copper
Post Modern Italian Steel and Glass Coffee or Cocktail Table, Italy, circa 1980s
By Bieffeplast
Located in Miami, FL
Postmodern coffee or cocktail table rendered in a simple steel frame with a glass top, Italy, circa 1980s.
Category
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Steel
Purple and brass post-modern pair of side tables
Located in Antwerp, BE
post-modern Pair of purple lacquered occasional side tables, Memphis era
Brass feet, clear glass top,
Italy, 1980s
Measures: L 78 cm D 78 cm H 63 cm.
Check out our Goldwood storefr...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Brass, Steel
Richard Meier Cocktail Table for Knoll
By Knoll, Richard Meier
Located in Chicago, IL
Rare 860T cocktail table for Knoll International. Limited production. Made from lacquered maple wood. Rounded corners and a slatted X-base. Designers initials engraved on underside.
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Maple
American Mid-Century Modern Chrome and Wood Coffee Table
Located in New York, NY
American Mid-Century Modern (1950s) square low coffee table with a wood top supported by a chrome base and four legs (Related item: MP0107)
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Chrome
Mid Century Modern Art Deco Style Cherry and Slate Cocktail Table, Custom Made
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A custom-made studio cocktail slate top coffee table circa 1980s. It features natural cherry base with black slate top.
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Slate
American Modern Geometric Black Glass and Brass Coffee Table
Located in New York, NY
American Modern design rectangular geometric faceted form black glass coffee table with brass detailing and a giltwood base.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Brass
Cocktail Table by Leon Rosen for Pace Furniture
By Leon Rosen
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
This iconic Pace octagonal top cocktail table was designed by Leon Rosen for the Pace Furniture Collection in the 1970s.
Note: The base of intersecting X-forms are chrome plated steel.
Note: The thickness of the glass is .75" and each section of the top measures approximately 18" in width.
FYI
Leon Rosen designed many iconic pieces for the Pace Furniture Collections...
Category
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Chrome
Attila Coffee or Low Centre Table by Jean-Michel Wilmotte
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Attila table by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Interesting proportions. Tall coffee table or low centre table. Referenced and documented.
Category
1980s French Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Steel
Custom Artisan Chrome, Brass, and Glass Coffee Table
Located in Chicago, IL
A bit of a Postmodern design, this table features a highly polished stainless steel chevron-form base, with brass ribbon appearing to run through it. Fitted glass top.
Square glass ...
Category
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Stainless Steel, Brass
Coffee Table mod. Alveo by Willy Rizzo for Sabot, 1972
By Willy Rizzo, Sabot
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy and designed by Willy Rizzo for Sabot in 1972.
This black formica veneered coffee table features an inserted stainless steel tray/ bucket and chrome- plated corners.
...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Steel, Chrome
Antonio Citterio Diesis Marble Coffee Table for B&B Italia
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Diesis Marble Coffee Table by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia c.1970's, Italy. The table features a large white marble rectangular top with distinct gray veining. The marble top rest...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Marble, Aluminum
Postmodern Square Elm Root Coffee Table Attr. to Willy Rizzo, Italy
By Willy Rizzo
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made In Italy, 1970s - 1980s.
This Italian coffee table is made in elm root.
It is a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight traces of use, but it can be considered as in exce...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Elm
Minotti Low-Profile Chrome Coffee Table with Stone Top
By Minotti
Located in Toronto, CA
A large scale, low profile coffee table in cool chrome with a stone top. Simple in its form and materials.
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Stone, Metal
Hand Decorated Lacquer on Wood Cocktail Table, c 1980s
Located in Norwalk, CT
Beautifully hand painted decoration on an oil-spot background makes this table a real stand out. An attractive sculptural form adds to its appeal. The table has bee refreshed with a ...
Category
1980s Unknown Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Wood
Vintage italian marble coffee table, 1970s
Located in HEVERLEE, BE
Coffee Table with a clear glass top and Geometric solid Marble Shapes in the style of ‘Metafora’ by Lella and Massimo Vignelli.
Beautiful vained marble.
Timeless design.
Very good...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Marble
Brass Clad Coffee Table on Wood Plinth Base
By Sarreid Ltd.
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Square brass clad coffee table on a walnut plinth base in the style of Sarreid. The table has a brass riveted detailing. The table top features a geometric pattern of squares and cir...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Brass
Paolo Piva ‘Re Quardo’ table for B&B Italia, Italy 1970s
By Paolo Piva
Located in London, GB
Paolo Piva (1950-2017) was an Italian architect and designer whose interest in social housing influenced a career in making minimalist, elegant and functional buildings and furniture...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Travertine
Vintage Cocktail Table With Ettore Sottsass Red Veneer Side Table Postmodern 80s
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Vintage Cocktail Table featuring Ettore Sottsass Veneer.
The vintage cocktail table has been re-veneered with the original Ettore Sottsass design from 1985. Sottsass is an iconic fi...
Category
1980s Unknown Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Wood
Vintage Postmodern Coffee Table Ettore Sottsass Veneer 80s MCM Retro
Located in Palm Desert, CA
The vintage postmodern coffee table has been re-veneered with the original Ettore Sottsass pattern from 1985, this table pays homage to the iconic figure in the Memphis design moveme...
Category
1980s Unknown Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Wood
Post Modern Wade Beam Brueton Cantilevered Coffee Table, Chrome and Glass
By Brueton, J. Wade Beam
Located in Miami, FL
Post Modern Wade Beam Brueton Cantilevered Coffee Table in chrome
Offered for sale is a 1990s post-modern chrome and polished beveled cantilevered g...
Category
1990s American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Chrome
Modernist coffee table in gilded metal and smoked glass, France, Circa 1970
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
Coffee table in gold painted metal and smoked safety glass top.
France, Circa 1970
Dimensions:
height 40 cm
width 80 cm
depth 80 cm
Category
1970s French Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Metal
Impressive Vintage Modern Coffee Table
Located in Trenton, NJ
This showstopping oversized square coffee table is a true gem in the world of vintage modern furniture. Adorned with a luxurious purple l...
Category
Late 20th Century Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Wood, Lacquer
Modular Hexa Coffee Table by Bernard Vuarnesson for Bellato, 1980s
Located in Izegem, VWV
This modular coffee table construction was designed by Bernard Vuarnesson and allows you to create your own composition using the six interchangeable table tops, all with a double co...
Category
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Laminate, Formica, Wood
Post Modern Laminated Tortoiseshell Coffee Table
Located in Redding, CT
Post Modern Laminated Tortoiseshell Coffee Table. Mid Century Post Modern Laminate Tortoiseshell End Table. Square table with earth tones of br...
Category
1970s Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Composition
Mid Century Modern Willy Rizzo Ying Yang Coffee Table circa 1970
By Willy Rizzo
Located in Sayreville, NJ
Iconic Ying Yang Table by designer Willy Rizzo.
Black lacquer with Burl , this piece is in good vintage condition with some minor signs of wear ( plea...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Brass
Glass Coffee Table After Gae Aulenti
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Oakland, CA
A wild and playful coffee table with large glass wheels after Gae Aulenti, produced in the late 90s to early 2000s. This unusual design is likened to her "Tour" and "Tavolo Con Ruote...
Category
1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Chrome
1980's Post Modern Atomic Chrome Coffee Table Base
Located in San Diego, CA
This very cool and unique coffee table in chrome was designed by Milo Baughman, for the Design Institute of America circa 1980s, we have polished the base, and we are including the g...
Category
20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Chrome
Midcentury Italian Post Modern Dark Travertine Cube End Tables or Coffee Table
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A simple pair of Classic cube tables from Italy circa 1980s. These feature solid travertine construction. Price includes the pair as shown.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Travertine
1970s Penthouse Smoked Glass + Polished Steel Panelled Coffee Table
Located in Hyattsville, MD
No chips to glass, but scratches to top surfaces from normal uses. No makers markings. Plywood core wrapped in stainless steel.
Measures: W 38 x D 38 x H 15.25 in.
Category
1970s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Stainless Steel
Postmodern Faux Marble Fiberglass Glass Top Z Coffee Table
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Postmodern Faux Marble Z Table in fiberglass – a sleek glass top meets an artfully crafted Z-shaped base for a distinctive touch in contemporary spaces.
Faux Marble Z Table captur...
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Glass, Fiberglass
Post Modern Large Crescent Moon Shaped Acrylic Glass Coffee Table Circular Top
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This beautiful coffee table has unique construction. Shaped like a crescent, it has a curved wood frame overlaid with elegant gray acrylic strips. About 3 inches below the top of the...
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Glass, Wood, Acrylic
Locus Solus, Gae Aulenti, Single Low Table
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Made of steel and fabrics with original and novel patterns, Locus Solus is the collection designed by the unpredictable flair of Gae Aulenti in 1964. The frame of Locus Solus Chair is made of painted stainless steel tubing. The light and colorful structure is reminiscent of a cylinder drawn in the air. For a dynamic and impactful style. This orange bench...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Aluminum
Vintage Dutch Model Z Coffee Table by Harvink, 1980s
By Harvink
Located in Denventer, NL
Post modern coffee table, model Z, by the Dutch furniture maker Harvink, 80. The table has a powerful architecturally designed frame of black metal round tubes with a hard glass plat...
Category
1980s Dutch Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Steel
Italian Modern Marble & Glass Revolving Low Table
Located in New York, NY
Italian postmodern white and black marble table, with revolving circular glass top, the glass top centered by a chrome gear which allows it to rotate on three white marble spheres...
Category
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Marble
Large Postmodern White & Green Laminate Coffee Table on Casters, USA 1980s 1990s
Located in Hastings, GB
A large vintage postmodern American white & green laminate coffee table, with cross design. Moves easily on casters. In great condition.
Dimensions : diameter 96cm, height 35cm.
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Laminate, Wood
Lacquered Faux Marble Hexagonal Coffee Table
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jewel-like hexagonal faux marble coffee table. Warm ivory color with rose and amethyst veining.
The construction appears to be wood, which has been painted and sealed with a clear ...
Category
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Wood, Lacquer, Paint
Acid Etched Brutalist Coffee Table, France
Located in Alsdorf, NW
Beautiful and very rare combination of etched metal top and wooden base.
The top is etched in clear lines and shapes. smooth and etched surface at once.
Base in warm patinated...
Category
20th Century French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Metal
Intersecting Circles Coffee Table by Koenraad Dewulf for Belgo Chrom
By Belgo Chrome
Located in Izegem, VWV
This coffee table was designed by the Belgian artist and furniture designer Koenraad Dewulf and produced by Belgo Chrom, Deinze. It consists of two intersecting glass circles on a sy...
Category
Late 20th Century Belgian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Stainless Steel
Custom Made Postmodern Coffee Table
Located in Surbiton, GB
Custom made Postmodern coffee table. An usual design composed of 4 beech pillars with cherry wood tops that slot on to the glass table top allo...
Category
Late 20th Century British Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Glass, Beech, Cherry
'Traccia' Table by Meret Oppenheim
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
Meret Oppenheim 'Traccia' table, Italy, Circa 1972.
Méret Oppenheim for Cassina.
Bronze base with oval gold leaf and wood top.
Bird foot imprints on the t...
Category
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Bronze
Side Table by Peter Shire
By Peter Shire
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
Vintage side table by Peter Shire, Untitled, circa 1980.
Birch solid core plywood and laminate.
Measures: 17" x 15" x 21"H
Peter Shire:
Peter Shire is an LA-based artist w...
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Laminate, Plywood
'Side Table 9' Side Table by Peter Shire, 1984
By Peter Shire
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
Vintage side table by Peter Shire, 1984.
Birch solid core plywood and laminate.
Exact dimensions avail. Upon request.
*other models available
Peter Shire:
Peter Shire is an LA...
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Laminate, Plywood
'Side Table 10' Side Table by Peter Shire, 1984
By Peter Shire
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
Vintage side table by Peter Shire, 1984.
Birch solid core plywood and Laminate.
Exact dimensions available upon request.
Other models available
Peter Shire:
Peter Shire is an ...
Category
1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Plywood, Laminate
Post-modern coffee and cocktail tables for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Post-Modern coffee and cocktail tables 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 coffee and cocktail tables created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include tables and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, glass and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Post-Modern coffee and cocktail tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, Denmark, and Scandinavia pieces for sale on 1stDibs. 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 coffee and cocktail tables differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $363 and tops out at $117,157 while the average work can sell for $3,490.
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