Frederick Weinberg Serving

Avid collectors of 1950s sculpture, table lamps and decorative objects have no doubt encountered the quirky mid-century modern creations of Frederic Weinberg, even if they didn’t know his name. Weinberg is best known for his extensive range of wall-mounted sculptures, clocks, lighting and semi-abstract paintings that bring playful figurative art into the home.

Weinberg, a Philadelphia-based artist and industrial designer, trained at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. Throughout the 1950s, he designed, produced and sold a wide variety of functional and decorative items under his company, Frederic Weinberg Co.

Working with wire, iron and gilded bronze, Weinberg crafted furniture and furnishings for use in homes, businesses and institutions. His most notable pieces included swivel stools with a wrought-iron base and seats made with leather, sheepskin or woven wicker; Atomic Age–style clocks; and sculptural table lamps constructed with paper shades and metal frames shaped like lutes and guitars.

Weinberg also made figurative wall sculptures depicting everything from ancient Roman gladiators and Etruscan-style horses to musicians and dancers to fencers and football players. Figuration also features heavily in his bent iron, brass and fiberglass sculptures, many of which he based on his semi-abstract paintings.

Although little is known about Weinberg’s design career, his pieces are highly sought by modern art collectors and interior designers. Philadelphia designer Ron Rowe and his partner Glenn Nadeau even mounted an extensive showcase of Weinberg’s rarest works in their Cherry Hill, New Jersey, home.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Frederic Weinberg wall decorations, decorative objects and seating.

Forever a sleek and elegant furnishing that evokes luxury and sophistication, a vintage bar cart will prove both functional and fabulous in your living room.

Bar carts as we know them were originally conceived as tea trolleys — a modest-sized table on wheels, sometimes featuring both an upper and lower shelf — to help facilitate tea service during the Victorian era in England. Modern bar carts weren’t really a common fixture in American interiors until after the end of Prohibition in the 1930s, when they were rolled onto the sets of Hollywood films. There, they suggested wealth and status in the dining rooms of affluent characters.

As tough as the 1930s had been on the average working American, the postwar era yielded economic stability and growth in homeownership. Increasingly, bar carts designed by the likes of Edward Wormley and other furniture makers became an integral part of sunken living rooms across the United States in the 1950s.

Bar carts were a must-have addition to the sensuous and sleek low-profile furnishings that we now call mid-century modern, each outfitted with the finest spirits and savory snacks that people had to offer. And partially owing to critical darlings like Mad Men, vintage cocktail carts have since seen a resurgence and have even become a selling point in restaurants.

Bar carts not only boast tremendous utilitarian value but also introduce a fun, nostalgic dynamic to the layout of your space, be it in the bar area or elsewhere. In addition to showcasing your favorite bottles of rye and local small-batch gin — or juices and mocktail ingredients — there is an undeniable allure to stacking statement glassware, vintage martini cocktail shakers and Art Deco decanter sets atop your fully stocked mid-century modern bar cart. And one size or style doesn’t fit all — an evolution of cocktail cart design throughout history has yielded all manner of metal bar carts, rattan carts and more.

We invite you to add a few more dashes of class to cocktail hour — peruse the vast collection of antique and vintage carts and bar carts on 1stDibs today.