Counter Stool Postmodern
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Stools
Wrought Iron
Vintage 1980s North American Mid-Century Modern Stools
Chrome
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Steel
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Marble
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2010s American Modern Stools
Leather, Cherry
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Bronze, Enamel, Nickel
2010s American Modern Stools
Brass
2010s American Modern Stools
Walnut
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile, Wood
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Upholstery
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Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Stools
Rope, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools
Fabric
2010s Mexican Black Forest Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
Recent Sales
Late 20th Century Canadian Post-Modern Stools
Chrome
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Stools
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Canadian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century American Stools
Steel
Late 20th Century American Stools
Brass
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Stools
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century Canadian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Stools
Steel
Vintage 1980s German Post-Modern Stools
Chrome
Counter Stool Postmodern For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Counter Stool Postmodern?
A Close Look at post-modern Furniture
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.
Finding the Right stools for You
Stools are versatile and a necessary addition to any living room, kitchen area or elsewhere in your home. A sofa or reliable lounge chair might nab all the credit, comfort-wise, but don’t discount the roles that good antique, new and vintage stools can play.
“Stools are jewels and statements in a space, and they can also be investment pieces,” says New York City designer Amy Lau, who adds that these seats provide an excellent choice for setting an interior’s general tone.
Stools, which are among the oldest forms of wooden furnishings, may also serve as decorative pieces, even if we’re talking about a stool that is far less sculptural than the gracefully curving molded plywood shells that make up Sōri Yanagi’s provocative Butterfly stool.
Fawn Galli, a New York interior designer, uses her stools in the same way you would use a throw pillow. “I normally buy several styles and move them around the home where needed,” she says.
Stools are smaller pieces of seating as compared to armchairs or dining chairs and can add depth as well as functionality to a space that you’ve set aside for entertaining. For a splash of color, consider the Stool 60, a pioneering work of bentwood by Finnish architect and furniture maker Alvar Aalto. It’s manufactured by Artek and comes in a variety of colored seats and finishes.
Barstools that date back to the 1970s are now more ubiquitous in kitchens. Vintage barstools have seen renewed interest, be they a meld of chrome and leather or transparent plastic, such as the Lucite and stainless-steel counter stool variety from Indiana-born furniture designer Charles Hollis Jones, who is renowned for his acrylic works. A cluster of barstools — perhaps a set of four brushed-aluminum counter stools by Emeco or Tubby Tube stools by Faye Toogood — can encourage merriment in the kitchen. If you’ve got the room for family and friends to congregate and enjoy cocktails where the cooking is done, consider matching your stools with a tall table.
Whether you need counter stools, drafting stools or another kind, explore an extensive range of antique, new and vintage stools on 1stDibs.
- What is a counter stool?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertOctober 12, 2021A counter stool is a restaurant seating that is accessible to customers who are either sitting or standing. The standard height for a counter stool should be around 24" to 27" above floor level. Find a collection of antique and vintage counter stools on 1stDibs.
- What is a counter height stool?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertOctober 12, 2021A counter height stool is a stool that measures approx. 24 to 27 inches in height, at the seat level. Counter height stools are taller than chairs and are generally designed to go with counter height tables. They can be used in different settings, including counters, dining rooms, coffee tables, bars, restaurants and salons. On 1stDibs, find a variety of antique and vintage counter height stools.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 26, 2024The difference between bar stools and counter stools comes down to height. Bar stools are usually between 28 and 32 inches tall to provide comfortable seating at bars and bar-height tables. To pair with kitchen counters and counter-height tables, counter stools are normally 24 to 27 inches tall. Find a large collection of dining stools on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Yes, bar stools are taller than counter stools. The average height of counter stools is 24 inches, and they are best suited for counter height tables and kitchen islands. Barstools are typically an additional five to six inches taller to fit the height of traditional bar counters. Shop a wide selection of bar stools and counter-height stools on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 25, 2019
Since counters are generally 34 to 39 inches high, counter stools should be 24 to 27 inches tall; bars are 40 to 46 inches from the ground, so bar stools typically stand 30 to 36 inches tall.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Counter height bar stools are stools that typically have a seat around 24 inches to 27 inches high and are designed to provide seating along a bar or at counter height tables. On 1stDibs, find an array of counter height bar stools from top sellers.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 31, 2023How many stools you should have per counter depends on the length of the countertop. A good rule of thumb is to put one stool every 30 inches, so take the total length of the counter and divide by 30 to arrive at the right number. Shop an assortment of counter stools on 1stDibs.