Driade Kalimba

Italian furniture brand Driade offers modern designs that are joyful, whimsical and slightly mischievous — words that might be used to describe the tree nymph of Greek mythology for which the company is named. Faye Toogood’s chunky, stout Roly Poly armchair and Fabio Novembre’s enigmatic Nemo chair — in which a backrest assumes the form of a human face — are just two examples of Driade’s eclectic furnishings.

Driade was founded in 1968 by brother and sister Enrico and Antonia Astori, and Adelaide Acerbi Astori, Enrico’s wife. Described by the company as a “factory of art,” Driade was focused solely on bringing distinctive and creative seating, case pieces and decorative objects to market in its early years. The brand sought to mass-produce decor and furniture that could also be seen as provocative works of art.

Driade's initial collaborations included Italian designers such as Enzo Mari, Nanda Vigo, Giotto Stoppino and Rodolfo Bonetto, to name a few. In the 1980s, the brand worked with influential and renowned designers from around the globe. In 1984, Driade partnered with French designer Philippe Starck and debuted his iconic Costes armchair during the same year. Projects with architects and furniture designers such as Ron Arad, Toyo Ito, Borek Sipek, Patricia Urquiola and others followed into the 2000s.

Over more than five decades — the company celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2018 — Driade’s fruitful partnerships have culminated in a vast catalog of chairs, sofas, coffee tables and other furnishings for the home and garden that evoke a unique and diverse blend of cultures.

Driade has also garnered international acclaim, winning the Compasso d’Oro award in 1979 and 2001 for Enzo Mari’s Delfira chair and ebony-finished, chipboard-top table, and again in 2008 for Ron Arad’s MT3 rocking armchair.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage and contemporary Driade tables, cabinets, armchairs and other 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.

No matter your furniture style of choice, a shared meal is one of life’s true rewards. Why not treat your family and friends to a luxurious dining experience? Browse our top picks to find the perfect antique, new or vintage dining room table for this important occasion.

Modern furniture design borrows significantly from the trends of yore, and this is especially apparent in dining tables. Ancient Egyptians made practical use of the earliest four-legged tables of wood and rock — their models bear striking similarity to the dining tables of today — while common large medieval dining room tables in England were made of oak or elm. Romans and Greeks, renowned for big banquets that involved entertainment as well as good food, used early dining room tables made of marble or wood and metals such as bronze for meals. 

On 1stDibs, find a range of dining room tables that offers no shortage of options to accommodate modest interiors, midsize family homes and even lavish banquets (entertainment not included).

Beginning in the mid-19th century, more American homes featured dining rooms, where families could gather specifically for a meal together. In the States, upper-class families were the first to enjoy dining room tables, which were the centerpiece of the dining room. 

Dining room tables of the Victorian era were created in a range of revivalist styles inspired by neoclassical, Renaissance, Gothic and other traditions. Furnishings of the period were made of various woods, including oak, rosewood and mahogany, and referenced a variety of decorative arts and architectural motifs. Some dining room tables finished in the Rococo style feature gorgeous inlaid marble tabletops or other ornamental flourishes handcrafted by Parisian furniture makers of the 18th century.

In many modern spaces, there often isn’t a dining room separate from the kitchen — instead, they frequently share real estate in a single area. Mid-century modern dining room tables, specifically those created by designers such as Osvaldo Borsani, Edward Wormley and Alvar Aalto, are typically clean and uncomplicated designs for a dining area that’s adjacent to where the cooking is done. Furniture of this era hasn’t lost its allure for those who opt for a casual and contemporary aesthetic.

If you’re of the modern mindset that making and sharing meals should be one in the same — and perhaps large antique dining tables don’t mesh well with your style — consider a popular alternative. Working with a tighter space may mean that a round or oval dining room table, a design that references the festive meals of the medieval era, may be a better fit. Round dining room tables, particularly those that originated in the Art Deco period, still endure as a popular contemporary substitute for traditional rectangular dining tables. Giovanni Offredi’s Paracarro table for Saporiti Italia is a striking round table option that showcases the magnificent Italian industrial design of the 1970s.

Find a collection of antique, new and vintage dining tables on 1stDibs.