72 Tulip Table

Through his work as an architect and designer, Eero Saarinen was a prime mover in the introduction of modernism into the American mainstream. Particularly affecting were the organic, curvilinear forms seen in Saarinen’s furniture and his best-known structures: the gull-winged TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy airport in New York (opened 1962), Dulles International Airport in Virginia (1962) and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri (1965).

Saarinen had a peerless modernist pedigree. His father, Eliel Saarinen, was an eminent Finnish architect who in 1932 became the first head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Detroit. The school became synonymous with progressive design and decorative arts in the United States, and while studying there the younger Saarinen met and befriended several luminaries of mid-century modernism, among them Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames.

At Cranbrook, Saarinen also met Florence Schust Knoll, who, as director of her husband Hans Knoll's eponymous furniture company, would put Saarinen’s best designs into production. These include the Grasshopper chair, designed in 1946 and so named because its angled bentwood frame resembles the insect; the Tulip chair (1957), a flower-shaped fiberglass shell mounted on a cast-aluminum pedestal; and the lushly contoured Womb lounge chair and ottoman (1948). In his furniture as in his architecture, the keynotes of Eero Saarinen’s designs are simplicity, strength and grace.

Find vintage Eero Saarinen tables, chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Antique and vintage dining room tables have long been the anchor of the home's most social room. The round pedestal and long banquet forms most collected today trace back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when the dining room itself first came into fashion.

Styles to Know

Round and oval tables suit smaller or open-plan rooms, while rectangular pedestal and trestle tables remain the standard for larger, more formal spaces. A credenza adds extra serving storage nearby, and a vintage wall mirror overhead opens up the room. For layout ideas, browse 20 dining rooms arranged for entertaining.

How to Choose the Right Vintage Dining Table

A dining table is usually the largest piece in the room, which makes delivery details worth confirming: White Glove service, disassembly options, and the table's full length, leaves included, measured against the space you have. Every table comes from a vetted 1stDibs seller, with era, designer and condition detailed, backed by the 1stDibs Promise.