Fred Press Glassware

The California-born style of Hollywood Regency, also known as Regency Moderne, emerged during the Golden Era of cinema from the 1920s to the ’50s. Decadent and bold, vintage Hollywood Regency furniture and interiors playfully mix colors like jewel tones and hot pinks with lacquered walls, gilded accents, mirrored surfaces and metallic finishes for maximalist spaces.

Although it involved elements of the coinciding Art Deco movement, such as a preference for clean lines, Hollywood Regency was much more opulent, inspired by glamorous movie stars and the lavish set designs for films being made in Tinseltown. Furniture designers associated with the style embraced an eclectic range of influences, including throwbacks to previous styles of grandeur, such as Rococo, neoclassical and chinoiserie, as well as materials, from bamboo dining chairs to lucite bar carts to sunburst mirrors made from gilded resin. Hollywood Regency end tables, floor lamps, chandeliers and other pieces tended to be small-scale, fitting into an overall design rather than serving as a focal point.

Interior decorator Dorothy Draper led the shaping of the Hollywood Regency style and also designed iconic pieces like the España chest, which was manufactured by Henredon. Virginia native William “Billy” Haines, a furniture designer who started as an actor, contrasted hand-painted wallpaper with Chinese ceramics and Chippendale chairs, while architect John Elgin Woolf imbued his Beverly Hills designs with theatrical details. Paul Revere Williams, a trailblazing African-American architect, was pivotal in defining the look through his commercial projects, such as the 1940s Beverly Hills Hotel and bespoke homes that mixed everything from Louis XV paneling to Georgian architecture.

Find a collection of vintage Hollywood Regency bedroom furniture, tables, seating and other pieces on 1stDibs.

Whether it’s streamlined or sophisticated, a bar area is always a welcoming feature in any home interior. A cheery well-made drink with friends and family has the potential to yield some unforgettable moments alongside those that aren’t easily remembered. And the only way to conjure that exemplary cordial is by putting the proper antique or vintage barware to work.

Essential barware equipment ranges from sterling-silver barspoons for mixing your cocktails in tall collins glasses to jiggers, shakers and strainers that allow you to whip up martinis and old-fashioneds.

From a design standpoint, some barware, such as our array of Art Deco glass whiskey sets or mid-century modern silver-banded tumblers crafted by Dorothy Thorpe, can help position your bar as a bold and attractive centerpiece to a room. At the very least, a carefully curated collection of barware can elevate with subtlety the bar’s nearby fixtures, as a handcrafted crystal decanter might do for your vintage 1960s bar cart.

As cocktail hour draws near, find inspiration in our gorgeous gallery of home bars in locales ranging from London to New York to San Francisco, and browse the exquisite selection of antique, new and vintage barware and glassware on 1stDibs.