Ben Pentreath
21st Century and Contemporary English Arts and Crafts Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Fabric, Velvet
Antique 1890s English Arts and Crafts Chairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Serving Bowls
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Porcelain
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Textile, Wood
Antique Late 19th Century English Victorian Card Tables and Tea Tables
Lacquer
2010s British Scandinavian Modern Ottomans and Poufs
Mohair, Velvet, Oak
20th Century English Arts and Crafts Side Chairs
Rush, Oak
Antique Late 19th Century English Armchairs
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Antique 1880s English Arts and Crafts Chairs
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Antique 1890s French Napoleon III Sterling Silver
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Bronze, Gold
Antique 1780s English George III Tea Sets
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2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
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2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
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2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
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2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
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2010s Italian Modern Porcelain
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Ben Pentreath For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Ben Pentreath?
A Close Look at modern Furniture
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.