Eileen Gray Double X
21st Century and Contemporary German Art Deco Dining Room Sets
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Tables
Steel
Vintage 1950s European Bauhaus Table Lamps
Metal
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s Mexican Brutalist Dining Room Tables
Oak
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Bronze, Enamel, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Center Tables
Wood, Birdseye Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Textile, Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
Vintage 1970s Italian Sofas
Leather
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Leather, Walnut
1990s German Modern Sofas
Wool, Wood
Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Sofas
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
Recent Sales
Vintage 1920s German Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Northern Irish International Style Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
Vintage 1960s Northern Irish International Style Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
Eileen Gray for sale on 1stDibs
Designer, artist and architect Eileen Gray was one of the most fascinating creative figures of the 20th century. Her body of work includes lustrous lacquered pieces — her Dragons chair set an auction record for modern furniture ($28 million) at the 2009 sale of the Yves Saint Laurent estate — and sleek chrome furnishings that rival the work of Le Corbusier and the members of the Bauhaus as exemplars of pure, modernist design.
The independent and unconventional daughter of Irish landed gentry, Gray studied painting at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in her early twenties before moving to Paris in 1906 to pursue her artistic dreams. Gray had become captivated by lacquerware after seeing an exhibit in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and in Paris persuaded an expatriate Japanese master of the painstaking process, Seizo Sugawara, to teach her. Within a few years, Gray had become known among the cognoscenti for her sculptural lacquered furnishings, which she incorporated into the homes of interior design clients.
Gray was ever evolving as a designer. By the early 1920s she was creating geometric works that embodied the essence of Art Deco and the nascent modernist design movement. Some pieces — such as her Bricks screen, an assemblage of pivoting rectangular panels — employ the planar forms favored by Gerrit Rietveld and other De Stijl architects of the Netherlands. Others feature the tubular chrome framing used by Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. These include the Bibendum chair — named for the resemblance of its semicircular back and armrest to the character known in English as the Michelin Man — and the adjustable E 1027 side table, conceived in 1927 for the interiors of a stark white villa she designed for herself in the South of France.
Never a self-promoter, Gray drifted out of the limelight in the 1930s. Interest in her work was revived in the early ’70s, however, when the estates of her early clients came to auction. Her original lacquer pieces are the most coveted, but, as the sale of the Dragons chair shows, are rare and extremely expensive.
None of Gray’s designs were made in large numbers until, a few years before her death, she granted a production license. These pieces range in price from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on furniture type and condition. Gray’s work has become iconic of practical and elegant modernist design. Yet, as you will see on 1stDibs, many of her creations have a simplicity that makes them welcome even in a traditional setting.
Finding the Right Tables for You
The right vintage, new or antique tables can help make any space in your home stand out.
Over the years, the variety of tables available to us, as well as our specific needs for said tables, has broadened. Today, with all manner of these must-have furnishings differing in shape, material and style, any dining room table can shine just as brightly as the guests who gather around it.
Remember, when shopping for a dining table, it must fit your dining area, and you need to account for space around the table too — think outside the box, as an oval dining table may work for tighter spaces. Alternatively, if you’ve got the room, a Regency-style dining table can elevate any formal occasion at mealtime.
Innovative furniture makers and designers have also redefined what a table can be. Whether it’s an unconventional Ping-Pong table, a brass side table to display your treasured collectibles or a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk to add an air of nostalgia to your loft, your table can say a lot about you.
The visionary work of French designer Xavier Lavergne, for example, includes tables that draw on the forms of celestial bodies as often as they do aquatic creatures or fossils. Elsewhere, Italian architect Gae Aulenti, who looked to Roman architecture in crafting her stately Jumbo coffee table, created clever glass-topped mobile coffee tables that move on bicycle tires or sculpted wood wheels for Fontana Arte.
Coffee and cocktail tables can serve as a room’s centerpiece with attention-grabbing details and colors. Glass varieties will keep your hardwood flooring and dazzling area rugs on display, while a marble or stone coffee table in a modern interior can showcase your prized art books and decorative objects. A unique vintage desk or writing table can bring sophistication and even a bit of spice to your work life.
No matter your desired form or function, a quality table for your living space is a sound investment. On 1stDibs, browse a collection of vintage, new and antique bedside tables, mid-century end tables and more .