Artek N65
2010s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Children's Furniture
Laminate, Beech
Vintage 1950s Finnish Modern Side Chairs
Laminate, Birch
Vintage 1930s Danish Mid-Century Modern Children's Furniture
Beech
Vintage 1950s Finnish Modern Children's Furniture
Laminate, Birch
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Bentwood
Recent Sales
Vintage 1960s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Children's Furniture
Birch
Vintage 1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Children's Furniture
Birch
Vintage 1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Bentwood
Vintage 1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Bentwood
Early 2000s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Birch
2010s Children's Furniture
Birch
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Vintage 1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Bentwood
20th Century Finnish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
Paint
People Also Browsed
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Hardwood
2010s South African Minimalist Night Stands
Wood
Vintage 1930s Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Birch
2010s Hungarian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
2010s South African Minimalist Night Stands
Poplar, Burl
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood
Vintage 1960s French Daybeds
Elm
Vintage 1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Cabinets
Birch
Alvar Aalto for sale on 1stDibs
An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism and Nordic design to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and his vintage furniture — which ranges from chairs, stools, tables and lighting to table- and glassware — Aalto’s sensitivity to the natural world and to organic forms and materials tempered the hardness of rationalist design.
Relatively few Aalto buildings exist outside Finland. (Just four exist in the United States, and only one — the sinuous 1945 Baker House dormitory at M.I.T. — is easily visited.) International attention came to Aalto, whose surname translates to English as “wave,” primarily through his furnishings.
Instead of the tubular metal framing favored by the Bauhaus designers and Le Corbusier, Aalto insisted on wood. His aesthetic is best represented by the Paimio armchair, developed with his wife, Aino Aalto, in 1930 as part of the overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium.
Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the Paimio chair’s frame is composed of two laminated birch loops; the seat and back are formed from a single sheet of plywood that scrolls under the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had an enormous influence on Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and others who later came to the material.
Concerned with keeping up standards of quality in the production of his designs, Aalto formed the still-extant company Artek in 1935, along with Aino, whose glass designs were made by the firm. In the latter medium, in 1936 the Aaltos together created the iconic, undulating Savoy vase, so-called for the luxe Helsinki restaurant for which the piece was designed.
Artek also produced Aalto pendants and other lighting designs, many of which — such as the Angel’s Wing floor lamp and the Beehive pendant — incorporate a signature Aalto detail: shades made of concentric enameled-metal rings graduated down in diameter. The effect of the technique is essential Alvar Aalto: at once precise, simple, and somehow poetic.
Find a collection of vintage Alvar Aalto stools, vases, dining tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Read More
The Very Modern Love Story of Mid-Century Design Duo Alvar and Aino Aalto
A power couple before the term existed, the influential pair made work that still resonates today.
What Makes Scandinavian Modernism and Nordic Design So Irresistible?
Andrew Duncanson, founder of the Stockholm- and London-based gallery Modernity, weighs in on the masters of mid-century furniture and decorative arts.
The Married Collectors behind Stockholm’s Newest Design Museum
Kersti Sandin and Lars Bülow want their new endeavor to educate both students and professionals about furniture design.
8 Mid-Century Lighting Makers
In the market for a fantastic fixture from the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s? Here are some names to know.