Midcentury Post Modern De Sede Gray Leather Loveseat 2 Seat Curved Sofa
By De Sede
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Midcentury post modern De Sede gray leather loveseat 2 seat curved back sofa.
Leather, Foam, Wood
Sold|$7,500
Vintage Curved Sofa, Newly Upholstered
Located in Raleigh, NC
Vintage curved sofa newly upholstered in a wonderful abstract patterned fabric. Plush cushion and deep seat offer excellent comfort in a small footprint.
Upholstery
1980s Postmodern Reupholstered Taupe Curved Channel Sofa
Located in Farmington Hills, MI
We are very pleased to offer a newly reupholstered, beautiful sofa circa the 1980s. Boasting a subtle curved silhouette and a deep channel tufted back, this piece adds a sense of mod...
Fabric
Hungarian Postmodern Sofa and Chairs in curved beech, 1980
Located in Brussels, BE
Hungarian Postmodern Sofa and Chairs in curved beech, 1980
Beech
Mid Century Italian Post Modern Curved Sculptural Sofa in Blue Velvet
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A very cool and curvy well made sofa from Italy circa 1990's. It consists of heavy construction with blue velvet upholstery. I believe fabric is original and recommending recovering....
Velvet
Mid century Post Modern De Sede Gray Leather long Curved back Pillow Sofa
By De Sede
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Mid century post modern De Sede gray leather long curved back Pillow sofa.
Leather, Foam, Wood
Sold|$10,125
Large Curved Post-Modern Sectional by Preview
By Preview
Located in Medina, OH
A unique post-modern curved sectional by Preview in its original fabric.
Fabric, Feathers
Sold|$8,000
John Mascheroni Curved Sofa
By John Mascheroni
Located in Chicago, IL
This John Mascheroni curved sofa, is an elegant piece of modern furniture that adds a touch of sophistication to any living space. This beautifully crafted sofa features a striking c...
Bouclé
Sold|$8,124
Curved High End Sofa
Located in Antwerp, BE
Curved velvet sofa on brass cast feet. Luxurious silver velvet upholstery - magenta lining. Italy, 1960s. This sofa is part of a set of two - the other the exact mirror image of t...
Brass
Sold|$8,000
John Mascheroni Curved Sofa
By John Mascheroni
Located in Chicago, IL
This 1980s sofa designed by John Mascheroni epitomizes the era's sleek, minimalist aesthetic with its elegantly curved silhouette. Upholstered in a rich ochre boucle fabric, the sofa...
Bouclé
Sold|$8,000
John Mascheroni Curved Sofa
By John Mascheroni
Located in Chicago, IL
This 1980s sofa designed by John Mascheroni epitomizes the era's sleek, minimalist aesthetic with its elegantly curved silhouette. Upholstered in a rich ochre boucle fabric, the sofa...
Bouclé
Sold|$2,450
Brühl German Cream Curved Sofa
By Ligne Roset
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
On offer on this occasion is one of the most stunning and rare, sculptural curved sofa you could hope to find. Outstanding design is exhibited throughout. The beautiful sofa is state...
Upholstery, Wood
Sold|$5,900
1970s Vintage Kidney Curved Sofa
By Vladimir Kagan
Located in Chicago, IL
Beautiful and incredibly well build curved sofa. Perfect for a living room or dining banquet. This is very heavy and the cushions are in excellent condition. Use as is or redo in you...
Textile, Wood
Vintage Molinari Curved Light Yellow Leather Sofa Curved Back, Italy
By Molinari
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Vintage Molinari italian modern leather sofa, curved back and seat with adjustable arms, both of them work fine. Raised on chrome topped light wood round tapering splayed legs in fro...
Chrome
Sold|$6,400
Steve Chase Curved Modular Sectional Sofa
By Steve Chase
Located in Chicago, IL
Modular sectional sofa by Steve Chase, circa 1980s. Original faux snakeskin fabric in good condition, showing minor wear.
Fabric
Sold|$5,000
1980s Vintage Curved Kidney Postmodern Sofa
Located in Chicago, IL
Oooh what a good shape! I can see this in a banquette or living area. The cushion foam and fabric are in excellent condition although you may want to redo the fabric:).
Fabric
Sold|$3,120
Vintage Italian Custom Curved Sofas - a Pair
Located in Chicago, IL
Beautiful and comfortable curved sofas custom made in Italy. Please get in touch if you would like to purchase just one. The fabric is in good/excellent condition and can be used as...
Fabric
Stunning Fully Restored Art Modern Curved Back Brown Leather Sofa Part of Suite
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer for sale this stunning fully restored Vintage hand dyed Cigar brown leather Art Modern three seater sofa which is part of a large suite As mentioned this...
Leather
RARE Pair of Curved Omnibus Sofas by Vladimir Kagan
By Vladimir Kagan
Located in Las Vegas, NV
These curved Omnibus Sofas by Vladimir Kagan are RARELY seen and we just happen to have a pair. A gorgeous duet, each with 3 lucite support legs and gorgeous Joseph Noble Mohair. T...
Mohair, Lucite
Sold|$7,800
Three Piece Curved Sectional Cloud Sofa
By Milo Baughman
Located in Southampton, NJ
1980s monumental three-piece sectional attributed to Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin cloud sofa. Overall in good shape, recommended for reupholstery. One tear to the back of one se...
Ultrasuede
Midcentury Italian Postmodern Curved Semi-Circular Serpentine Sectional Sofa
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A unique and stylish sofa made in Italy from the 1980s. It features 3 separate pieces with a sculptural form. Fabric is original with light general wear.
Fabric, Wood
Mid-Century Modern Curved Serpentine Sectional Sofa by Adrian Pearsall Art Deco
By Comfort Design Furniture, Adrian Pearsall
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A large two-piece sectional sofa designed by Adrian Pearsall and manufactured by Comfort Designs in the 1980s. It features beautiful ribbed design lines and the original upholstery. ...
Fabric, Wood
Sold|$10,000
1970s Sofa With Curved Arm and Brass Plinth Base
Located in Chicago, IL
Absolutely breathtaking. Original condition in excellent condition. I also have a matching loveseat and smaller loveseat (56” and 66” wide). Check out my other listings.
Brass
Italian Design Floating Free Form Curved Sofa w Sculptural Copper Base
By Vladimir Kagan
Located in Oud-Turnhout, VAN
Rare Postmodern modern Italian design floating free form curved 3 seat Sofa with Sculptural base. Made in Italy 1990's. Made with the Highest quality materials. Velvet turquoise sea ...
Copper
Postmodern Weiman Curved Right Arm Sofa Chaise Serpentine Attributed to Kagan
By Weiman
Located in Chicago, IL
Stunning and fully reupholstered in an oyster two toned chenille. This fabric is the perfect shade of gray, without a yellow or blue undertone. I personally have this same fabric in ...
Fabric
Postmodern Weiman Curved Left Arm Sofa Chaise Serpentine Attributed to Kagan
By Weiman
Located in Chicago, IL
Stunning and fully reupholstered in an oyster two toned chenille. This fabric is the perfect shade of gray, without a yellow or blue undertone. I personally have this same fabric in ...
Fabric
Large Curved Four-Seat Italian Sofa, Newly Upholstered in "Caramel" Velvet
Located in Brussels, BE
Sofa four-seat Italian. Newly upholstered in velvet.
Velvet
Vintage Large Two-Piece Postmodern Curved Sectional
Located in Medina, OH
Beautiful vintage two-piece Postmodern Curved Sectional in its original unique fabric - An off-white performance fabric with a textured swirl design. In great condition but it is vin...
Fabric
1990s Weiman Immaculate Customized Curved Serpentine Sectional
By Weiman
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Transport yourself back to the sleek and sophisticated 1990s with this exquisite Weiman sectional sofa. The ultra rare sectional exudes an air of luxury and refinement. Outstanding d...
Steel
Large Curved Sectional, Robert Ebel for Preview, 1980s
By Vladimir Kagan
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Robert Ebel “Allure” Sofa for Weiman/Preview curved 3 piece sectional with lucite legs in a gray chenille. Pieces connect via metal bracket. Tagged to underside and in excellent cond...
Chenille, Lucite
Sold|$2,600
Modular Curved Post Modern Sofa
Located in Los Angeles, CA
W137 D33 H24 SW92 SD22 SH16.5 AH25 Very well preserved low provide deep modular seating. Item has original fabric with no visible areas of large wear. One corner seems to have bee...
Fabric
Sold|$4,950
Vintage Curved Sofa / Sectional
Located in Houston, TX
Amazing mid-century / Post Modern curved sofa / sectional with tufted backing.
Fabric
Sold|$5,850
Bright Green Vintage Curved Sofa
Located in Glendale, AZ
Bright green vintage curved sofa, newly upholstered in vibrant green apple velour. Awesome condition, new upholstery, the statement your living room / office has been pleading for. ...
Upholstery
Sold|$3,900
Postmodern Sofa with Sculptural Curved Arms
By Carsons
Located in Chicago, IL
A unique postmodern three seat sofa with curved arms that wrap around the seat cushions. The sofa rests on an upholstered plinth base.
Upholstery
Curved Armless Sofa by Weiman in a Sensual Velvet Fabric
Located in Houston, TX
Amazing curved kidney lounge sofa in a deep brown velvet fabric produced by Weiman Furniture Company in the late 80s early 90s. This piece is prefect for any Living room, game room, ...
Velvet
Pair of Drexel Heritage Curved Back Sofas - New Cobalt Blue Upholstery
By Drexel
Located in Asheville, NC
Pair of vintage curved back sofas for the Drexel Heritage line. New cobalt blue upholstery!
Upholstery
1980s Pair of Pink Tweed Postmodern Curved Back Sculpted Sofas by David Edwards
By David Edwards
Located in Munroe Falls, OH
This is a great pair of pink tweed postmodern curved back sofas on plinth bases by David Edwards Furniture, ca. 1980’s. The black plinth bases follow the curves of the sofa that adds...
Upholstery
Set of 2 Postmodern Curved Yin-Yang Shaped Sofa Daybeds in Red Fabric, c 1980s
Located in Zagreb, HR
1980s curved sofa daybed Price is for the set of 2 Wooden frame upholstered in red fabric supported with five black painted globe-shaped wooden feet Unknown manufacturer Both ...
Fabric, Foam, Wood
Vintage Serpentine Curved 5-Piece Sectional Sofa, Vladimir Kagan Style, 1980s
Located in Zagreb, HR
Custom made sectional curved sofa from the 1980s Nice organic serpentine-shape form in the manner of Vladimir Kagan The fabric is in good condition but needs updating. There ar...
Fabric, Foam, Wood
Sold|$7,000
Curved Modular Sectional, 1980s
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This custom cream sectional is like a cloud made of marshmallows, but without the stickiness. It's the perfect spot to sink into after a long day and dream about all the things you'l...
Fabric
Sold|$9,313
Brown Velvet Curved Sectional, 1980s
By Vladimir Kagan
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Imagine lounging on this colossal, Vladimir Kagan-inspired curved sectional, a masterpiece of the 1980s now reinvented with a lush brown velvet garb. Its audacious curves whisper of ...
Upholstery, Velvet
Sold|$6,500
1980s Postmodern Curved Two Piece Sectional
By Adrian Pearsall, Bernhardt
Located in Houston, TX
Gorgeous postmodern two piece curved sectional freshly reupholstered in olive velvet, c.1980s. While unmarked, the design is very reminiscent of those by Bernhardt Flair Division and...
Velvet
Vintage 1980s Postmodern Custom Sectional Featuring Unique Wave Curves
By Karl Springer
Located in Bartlett, IL
Unique custom gray curved sectional sofa chaise. A vintage beauty sure to make an impactful statement in any interior space. Upholstery fabric features a lovely pattern set in a gray...
Fabric
2 Post-Modern Curved Sofa After Vladimir Kagan
Located in Houston, TX
A amazing pair of baby blue post-modern curved cloud sofas. These sofa were made custom in the mid 1990s.
Cotton
Sold|$3,499
Drexel Curved sofa
By Drexel
Located in Houston, TX
Amazing curved kidney shaped sofas recently upholstered in a lovely velvet fabric in the shade of taupe. Sofas measure 30" T x 80" W x 42" D with the seat height at 17" T. The seat d...
Velvet
Sold|$1,500
1980s Curved Sofa After Vladimir Kagan
Located in Houston, TX
Stunning Curved loveseat/settee after Vladimir Kagan.. Beautiful three layer curved base with simple wooden legs underneath. Believed to be made by Weiman Wear is constant with age. ...
Fabric
Vladimir Kagan Curved Black Sofa for Weiman / Preview
By Weiman Preview Furniture, Vladimir Kagan
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vladimir Kagan for Weiman / Preview This modern sculpted sofa features a flowing freeform backrest with unique cutaway style design. Upholstery is a black micro-suede. The sofa is...
Fabric
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
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
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.
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.