Lucite Brass Bookshelf
Antique 19th Century Paperweights
Brass
Vintage 1970s Modern Paperweights
Lucite
Vintage 1970s Italian Renaissance Revival Bookends
Brass
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1980s Games
Onyx
Vintage 1950s Games
Aluminum
Late 20th Century European Card Tables and Tea Tables
Metal
Antique Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Mantel Clocks
Metal, Bronze
Vintage 1970s American Brutalist Games
Pottery
Antique Early 1900s French Neoclassical Revival Centerpieces
Bronze
20th Century Games
Onyx
Antique Late 19th Century French Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Antique 19th Century French Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Games
Alabaster
Vintage 1920s English Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1970s American Modern Centerpieces
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Vases
Brass
Antique 19th Century French Chinese Export Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Games
Alabaster
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Games
Alabaster
Recent Sales
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Brass, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Shelves
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desk Sets
Brass, Nickel
Vintage 1970s French Bookcases
Brass
Vintage 1960s American Hollywood Regency Bookcases
Brass
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Late 20th Century French Bookcases
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass, Metal
Materials: plastic Furniture
Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous man-made material, plastic has impacted nearly every industry. In contemporary spaces, new and vintage plastic furniture is quite popular and its use pairs well with a range of design styles.
From the Italian lighting artisans at Fontana Arte to venturesome Scandinavian modernists such as Verner Panton, who created groundbreaking interiors as much as he did seating — see his revolutionary Panton chair — to contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Faye Toogood, furniture designers have been pushing the boundaries of plastic forever.
When The Graduate's Mr. McGuire proclaimed, “There’s a great future in plastics,” it was more than a laugh line. The iconic quote is an allusion both to society’s reliance on and its love affair with plastic. Before the material became an integral part of our lives — used in everything from clothing to storage to beauty and beyond — people relied on earthly elements for manufacturing, a process as time-consuming as it was costly.
Soon after American inventor John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which could mimic luxury products like tortoiseshell and ivory, production hit fever pitch, and the floodgates opened for others to explore plastic’s full potential. The material altered the history of design — mid-century modern legends Charles and Ray Eames, Joe Colombo and Eero Saarinen regularly experimented with plastics in the development of tables and chairs, and today plastic furnishings and decorative objects are seen as often indoors as they are outside.
Find vintage plastic lounge chairs, outdoor furniture, lighting and more on 1stDibs.