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Italian Post Modern Coffee Table

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Italian post modern coffee table with white stoneware tiles and black grout 2023
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern coffee table with white stoneware tiles and black grout 2023 Square-based
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Ta...

Materials

Stoneware

Italian Post-modern Glass Coffee Table for Bellato, 1980s
Located in Budapest, HU
Introducing the Italian post-modern coffee table from the 1980s, designed by Bellato. This heavy
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal

Post Modern Italian Travertine Coffee Table
Located in Chicago, IL
Post modern Italian travertine coffee table with metal base.
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Metal

Post Modern Italian Travertine Coffee Table
Post Modern Italian Travertine Coffee Table
H 11.25 in W 39.5 in D 39.5 in
Post-Modern Italian Coffee Table
Located in AMSTELVEEN, NL
Glass and metal adjustable coffee table. Unique with table legs on swivels, allowing the
Category

Late 20th Century Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Post-Modern Italian Coffee Table
Post-Modern Italian Coffee Table
H 16.54 in W 46.07 in D 27.56 in
Post-Modern marble & glass coffee table, Italian design, circa 1980s
Located in leucate, FR
Post-Modern designer coffee table. Marble base, chrome structure composed of two parallel cylinders
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble, Metal, Chrome

Italian post-modern squared burnished steel coffee table or pedestal, 2000s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post-modern squared coffee table or pedestal in burnished steel, 2000s Burnished steel
Category

Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Italian post-modern squared corten steel coffee table or pedestal, 2000s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post-modern squared coffee table or pedestal in Corten steel, 2000s Corten steel coffee
Category

Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Italian Post-Modern Outside Coffee Table in White Tubular Metal, 2000s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post-modern Outside coffee table in white tubular metal, 2000s Coffee table of irregularly
Category

Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal

Post Modern Low Profile Square Coffee Table
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Big on style but not on size, this petite low profile, Post Modern coffee table is perfect for that
Category

Late 20th Century Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Wood

Post Modern Glossy Laquered Red Coffee Table with Glass Table Top, Italy 1980s
Located in Vienna, AT
Post Modern glossy laquered red coffee table with glass table top, Italy 1980s. Stunning Post
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass, Epoxy Resin

Italian Post-Modern Cylindrical Coffee Tables in Grey and Blue Plexiglass, 2000s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post-modern Cylindrical coffee tables in grey and blue plexiglass, 2000s Pair of
Category

Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Plexiglass

Italian Post-Modern Two-Piece Oval Parchment and Marble Coffee Table
Located in New York, NY
Italian Post-Modern oval coffee table in two sections with parchment veneer bases supporting beige
Category

Late 20th Century Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Breccia Marble

Mid Century Italian Post Modern Rectangular Glass Coffee Table in Black & Gray
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Sleek post modern design from Italy circa early 90's. Textured resin over wood with clear glass top.
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass, Wood

Maurizio Salvato Post Modern Coffee or Cocktail Table for Saporiti, Italy 1980s
By Maurizio Salvato, Saporiti
Located in Miami, FL
Post Modern birds eye maple coffee or cocktail table designed by Maurizio Salvato for Saporiti
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Mid Century Italian Post Modern Memphis Sottsass Style Coffee Table in Black
By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A super funky cocktail table design from the 1980's and made in Italy. It features all steel
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal

A POST-MODERN Lacquered COFFEE TABLE by WILLY RIZZO, ed. CIDUE, Italy, 1970
By Willy Rizzo
Located in PARIS, FR
A large and rigorous rectangular coffee table, Post-Modern, Memphis, Constructivist, geometric
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Wood, Lacquer

Post modern lucite snail spiral glass top coffee table
By Jeffrey Bigelow
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Post modern lucite snail spiral glass top coffee table. Base is made of clear polished lucite
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass, Plexiglass

Post Modern Enamel and Glass Coffee Table Dated '91 Probably Made in Italy
By Michael Graves (b.1934), Ettore Sottsass
Located in New York, NY
Intriguing Post Modern, Memphis style coffee table having opposing curved bases, of turquoise and
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal

1980s Post Modern Green Marble Black Iron Coffee Table
By Memphis Milano
Located in Stafford, TX
Beautiful marble coffee table in great condition as seen! See photos for details and message with
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble, Iron

Post Rural Model Coffee Table by Studio Superego, Italy
By Studio Superego
Located in Milan, Italy
Post Rural model coffee table designed by Studio Superego for Superego Editions. Colored plexiglass
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Ta...

Materials

Plexiglass

Post Modern Norwegian Fauske Marble Two Piece Sculptural Coffee Table
By Roche Bobois, Up & Up
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Really one of a kind Roche Bobois style modern Italian two piece coffee table features an
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

1980’s Italian Parsons Travertine Coffee Table
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Chicago, IL
Post modern Italian Parsons travertine coffee table in style of Angelo Mangiarotti.
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Post Modern Black Marble Pedestal Base Coffee Table Made in Italy c 1970’s
Located in New York, NY
Stunning graphic back and white marble coffee table having a square pedestal base ( 16 x 16 x H 15
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

1970s Italian Post-Modern Pair of Mirrored Cherry Wood Eglomise Coffee Tables
By Rimadesio
Located in New York, NY
An unusual pair of Italian mid-century modern coffee/sofa tables by Rimadesio with a post-modern
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Aluminum

Stacked Glass Fan Shape Base Round Coffee Table Italian Post Modern Mid Century
By Brueton, Pace Collection
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Stacked Glass Fan Shape Base Round Coffee Table Italian Post Modern Mid Century MINT!
Category

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass

Attributed Niels Bendtsen Post Modern Crystal and Steel Coffee Table, 1970s
By Niels Bendtsen
Located in Puglia, Puglia
This coffee table is attributed to Danish designer Niels Bendtsen for "2B" in the late 70's. Post
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Crystal, Steel

Ettore Sottsass Tony Table Post-Modern Italy, circa 1970
By Anthologie Quartett 1, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Vienna, AT
A fine example of the work of Ettore Sottsass, the Tony 3 table was imagined by the famous designer
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Plastic, Wood

Post Modern Square Marble Coffee Tables, circa 1970s, Pair Available
Located in New York, NY
Chic Postmodern square coffee table(s) constructed of polished marble. circa 1970s, the tables
Category

Mid-20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

Midcentury Italian Post Modern Travertine Marble 2 Piece Cocktail Table
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Two piece contemporary design circa 1990s from Italy. Solid travertine construction. Each table
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

1970 Post-Modern Green Patinated Wood and Stainless Steel Coffee Table
By Jean Claude Delagneau
Located in Brescia, IT
This is a stunning coffee table that was designed by the French artist Jean-Claude Delagneau, that
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stainless Steel

Trio of Midcentury Italian Post Modern Faux Stone Cocktail Table Set
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A post modern set of three circular cocktail tables. Each table measure 21 inches in diameter. The
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Resin

Vintage Italian Travertine Stone Side Table by Stone International Post-Modern
By Stone International, Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Miami, FL
. See our storefront for the matching coffee table being sold separately! 27.5" w 27.5" d x 22" H
Category

20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Travertine

Mid Century Italian Post Modern Black & White Kidney Shape Cocktail Table
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A large free form coffee table from Italy circa 1980's. It features cast concrete legs with
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Concrete

Mid Century Italian Post Modern Rectangular Cocktail Table in Glass & Marble
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A large and substantial coffee table from Italy circa 1970's. It features a thick clear glass top
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal, Brass

Italian Modern Karl Springer Style Travertine Biomorphic Coffee Table
By Angelo Mangiarotti, Mario Bellini, Karl Springer
Located in Houston, TX
Italian Modern Karl Springer Style Travertine Free Form Coffee Table. Beautifully designed Italian
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Vintage Post Modern Travertine Coffee Cocktail Table - Organic Live Edge Stone
By Stone International, Roche Bobois
Located in Decatur, GA
Vintage organic modern Italian travertine square coffee or cocktail table with live edge detail
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Organic Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Travertine, Marble

Italian Travertine Coffee Table
Located in Chicago, IL
Solid Italian travertine coffee table with large beveled edge.
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Italian Travertine Coffee Table
Italian Travertine Coffee Table
H 12.5 in W 43.25 in D 43.25 in
Post Modern Coffee Table With Rotating Glass Top by B&B Italia. Circa 1990s
By B&B Italia
Located in Miami, FL
Vintage Post Modern Coffee Table With Rotating Glass Top by B&B Italia. Circa 1990s Features a
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal

Post Modern Hollywood Regency Style 1980's Vintage Coffee Table
By Karl Springer
Located in New York, NY
Voguish Hollywood Regency coffee table, having a tinted mirror insert top, which is supported by a
Category

Late 20th Century American Hollywood Regency Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Aluminum

Italian Coffee Table with Squared Table Top
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Coffee table, aluminum, lacquered wood, Italy, 1970s This black coffee table was made in the 1970s
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Aluminum

Italian Coffee Table with Squared Table Top
Italian Coffee Table with Squared Table Top
H 14.77 in W 31.5 in D 31.5 in
Modern Italian matt black wood with decoration low coffee table, 1980s
Located in MIlano, IT
Tavolo da caffè basso, in legno con finitura in nero opaco e motivo decorativo verde su due lati della struttura, con sei zampe a sezione quadrata, dal disegno geometrico. 1980 ca. P...
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Wood

Maurice Villency Italian Travertine Coffee Table
By Maurice Villency
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A post modern travertine coffee table by Maurice Villency. Rectangular travertine slab with double
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Italian designer coffee table Saporiti Italia
By Sergio and Giorgio Saporiti, Saporiti
Located in Berlin, DE
We are offering a beautiful coffee table by Sergio and Giorgio Saporiti for Saporiti Italia for
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Concrete

Italian designer coffee table Saporiti Italia
Italian designer coffee table Saporiti Italia
H 11.82 in W 51.19 in D 51.19 in
Italian coffee table, 1960s
Located in Paris, IDF
innovative design of mid-century modern furniture. This era in Italy was marked by a post-war renaissance in
Category

Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass, Walnut

Italian coffee table, 1960s
Italian coffee table, 1960s
H 17.72 in Dm 26.78 in
Vintage italian marble coffee table, 1970s
Located in Leuven, Vlaams Gewest
Coffee Table with a clear glass top and Geometric solid Marble cones in the style of Lella and
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

Vintage italian marble coffee table, 1970s
Vintage italian marble coffee table, 1970s
H 12.6 in W 55.12 in D 31.89 in
Marzio Cecchi coffee table, Italy 1970s
By Marzio Cecchi
Located in London, GB
classical appeal to this rare coffee table, which sits low and louche on two angled legs. Wrapped in a cream
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Lacquer

Marzio Cecchi coffee table,  Italy 1970s
Marzio Cecchi coffee table,  Italy 1970s
H 13.39 in W 55.12 in D 39.38 in
Italian modern yellow metal rod structure coffee tables with glass top, 1970s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern yellow metal rod structure coffee tables with glass top, 1970s. Rectangular coffee
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal

Travertine Table Side Table / Coffee Table, Travertine, 1970s, Italy
Located in London, England
Side table / coffee table, travertine, 1970s, Italy. Travertine side table with a square top with
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Memphis Geometric Coffee Table, Italy, 1980s
Located in Antwerp, BE
Unique 1980s Memphis coffee table, crafted from pine wood, featuring bold geometric shapes
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass, Wood, Pine

Memphis Geometric Coffee Table, Italy, 1980s
Memphis Geometric Coffee Table, Italy, 1980s
H 19.69 in W 64.97 in D 39.38 in
1970s Vintage Tiered Triangle Post Black Granite Coffee Table, 2 Pieces
Located in Asheville, NC
Classic post modern tiered Italian black Granite coffee piece comprised of 2 triangular shape
Category

Vintage 1970s European Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Granite

Solid Brass Square Posts Legs Glass Top Coffee Table
By Widdicomb Furniture Co., Mastercraft
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Mid-Century Modern 3/4" thick glass top coffee table standing on polished brass legs.
Category

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Brass

Paola Piva style Coffee Table Italy 1980s
By Paolo Piva
Located in Den Haag, NL
Very nice Paolo Piva style coffee table . Thick Glass top . Black Steel Wire frame . adjustable
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Paola Piva style Coffee Table  Italy  1980s
Paola Piva style Coffee Table  Italy  1980s
H 15.75 in W 36.23 in D 36.23 in
Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar tables, 1990s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar tables, 1990s Bar, coffee or
Category

1990s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Iron

Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar table, 1990s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar table, 1990s Bar, coffee or bistro
Category

1990s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Iron

Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar table, 1990s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar table, 1990s Bar, coffee or bistro
Category

1990s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Iron

Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar table, 1990s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern wooden top and decorated black cast iron bar table, 1990s Bar, coffee or bistro
Category

1990s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Iron

Italian Coffee Tables in Granite and Brass
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Coffee tables, granite, brass, black lacquered steel, Italy, 1980s These Italian side tables
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Granite, Brass, Steel

Italian Coffee Tables in Granite and Brass
Italian Coffee Tables in Granite and Brass
H 23.23 in W 35.63 in D 25.79 in
Coffee Table by Gaetano Pesce, Italy, 1990s
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Antwerp, BE
; 1990s; Organic coffee table by Gaetano Pesce, crafted in Italy during the iconic 1990s era. This
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Coffee Table by Gaetano Pesce, Italy, 1990s
Coffee Table by Gaetano Pesce, Italy, 1990s
H 18.51 in W 55.91 in D 35.83 in
Italian Post-War Design Metal and Glass Table
Located in New York, NY
Italian Post-War Design chrome plated metal abstract geometric form table base (With 47.25" square
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Metal, Chrome

Postmodern Italian Handkerchief Crystal Coffee Table, 1980s
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Crystal table handkerchief made in Italy in the 1980s, probably by Fiam. Measurements of the top
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Crystal

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Italian Post Modern Coffee Table For Sale on 1stDibs

Choose from an assortment of styles, material and more with respect to the Italian post modern coffee table you’re looking for at 1stDibs. Frequently made of stone, metal and glass, every Italian post modern coffee table was constructed with great care. There are 191 variations of the antique or vintage Italian post modern coffee table you’re looking for, while we also have 8 modern editions of this piece to choose from as well. Your living room may not be complete without an Italian post modern coffee table — find older editions for sale from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 21st Century. An Italian post modern coffee table is a generally popular piece of furniture, but those created in Mid-Century Modern and Modern styles are sought with frequency. You’ll likely find more than one Italian post modern coffee table that is appealing in its simplicity, but Gae Aulenti, FIAM and Massimo and Lella Vignelli produced versions that are worth a look.

How Much is an Italian Post Modern Coffee Table?

The average selling price for an Italian post modern coffee table at 1stDibs is $3,925, while they’re typically $275 on the low end and $18,000 for the highest priced.

A Close Look at Post-modern Furniture

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

  • Emerges during the 1960s; popularity explodes during the ’80s
  • A reaction to prevailing conventions of modernism by mainly American architects
  • Architect Robert Venturi critiques modern architecture in his Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966)
  • Theorist Charles Jencks, who championed architecture filled with allusions and cultural references, writes The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977)
  • Italian design collective the Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, meets for the first time (1980) 
  • Memphis collective debuts more than 50 objects and furnishings at Salone del Milano (1981)
  • Interest in style declines, minimalism gains steam

CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Dizzying graphic patterns and an emphasis on loud, off-the-wall colors
  • Use of plastic and laminates, glass, metal and marble; lacquered and painted wood 
  • Unconventional proportions and abundant ornamentation
  • Playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art

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 Mendinia 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.

Finding the Right Coffee-tables-cocktail-tables for You

As a practical focal point in your living area, antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables are an invaluable addition to any interior.

Low tables that were initially used as tea tables or coffee tables have been around since at least the mid- to late-1800s. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. In the United States, furniture makers worked to introduce low, long tables into their offerings as the popularity of coffee and “coffee breaks” took hold during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

It didn’t take long for coffee tables and cocktail tables to become a design staple and for consumers to recognize their role in entertaining no matter what beverages were being served. Originally, these tables were as simple as they are practical — as high as your sofa and made primarily of wood. In recent years, however, metal, glass and plastics have become popular in coffee tables and cocktail tables, and design hasn’t been restricted to the conventional low profile, either.

Visionary craftspeople such as Paul Evans introduced bold, geometric designs that challenge the traditional idea of what a coffee table can be. The elongated rectangles and wide boxy forms of Evans’s desirable Cityscape coffee table, for example, will meet your needs but undoubtedly prove imposing in your living space.

If you’re shopping for an older coffee table to bring into your home — be it an antique Georgian-style coffee table made of mahogany or walnut with decorative inlays or a classic square mid-century modern piece comprised of rosewood designed by the likes of Ettore Sottsass — there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Both the table itself and what you put on it should align with the overall design of the room, not just by what you think looks fashionable in isolation. According to interior designer Tamara Eaton, the material of your vintage coffee table is something you need to consider. “With a glass coffee table, you also have to think about the surface underneath, like the rug or floor,” she says. “With wood and stone tables, you think about what’s on top.”

Find the perfect centerpiece for any room, no matter what your personal furniture style on 1stDibs — shop Art Deco coffee tables, travertine coffee tables and other antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables today.