What is an MCM chair?

An MCM chair is a mid-century modern chair. The design style known as mid-century modernism emerged during the mid-20th century and was informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. Organically shaped, clean lines and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern chairs and other furniture. Find a selection of vintage mid-century modern chairs on 1stDibs.

Mcm Chrome Chair

MCM Tubular Chrome Rocking Chair, Made in Canada

$850

MCM Tubular Chrome Rocking Chair, Made in Canada

Located in Toronto, ON

Very cool tubular chrome rocking chair, made in Canada. The frame is finished in chrome while the seating in a durable naugahyde material. Made in Canada, circa 1970s. In fair condit...

Category

Vintage 1970s Canadian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs

Materials

Chrome

MCM Chrome & Wood Dining Armchairs Accent Chairs Set of 2

$448Sale Price / set|20% Off

MCM Chrome & Wood Dining Armchairs Accent Chairs Set of 2

By Bernhardt

Located in Lake Worth, FL

Offering one of our Recent Palm Beach Estate Fine Furniture Acquisitions Of A Set of 2 MCM solid chrome & wood dining armchairs accent chairs Approximate Measurements in Inches 33 ...

Category

Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Chairs

Materials

Chrome

$3,635 / set

Six Dining Chairs by DIA, Chrome, Mid Century Modern, MCM

Located in Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Set of 6 Chrome Dining Chairs by Design Institute of America (DIA), 1970s Measurements: 37" H x 19 1/4" W x 22" D Seat Height: 18 1/4" Seat Depth: 17" Add a touch of mid-century mo...

Category

Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Chrome

Zeta Leather Lounge Chair Paul Tuttle Cream Chrome Cantilever Strassle MCM 1970s

$4,008

Zeta Leather Lounge Chair Paul Tuttle Cream Chrome Cantilever Strassle MCM 1970s

By Paul Tuttle, Strässle International

Located in London, GB

A gorgeous and very rare designer Mid Century cream leather and chrome cantilever armchair in lovely vintage condition. Designed by Paul Tuttle and made by high-end Swiss firm Sträss...

Category

Mid-20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Metal, Chrome

Maison Jansen MCM Chrome Rocker, 1970, France

$2,250Sale Price|24% Off

$2,295 / set

2 MCM Polished Aluminum Barrel Swivel Lounge Chairs Chrome Tulip Base by Woodard

By Russell Woodard, Woodard Furniture Co.

Located in Topeka, KS

Handsome vintage MCM (Mid-Century Modern) polished aluminum and chrome tulip base barrel swivel lounge chairs by Russell Woodard, a pair.

Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs

Materials

Aluminum, Chrome

Vintage MCM Herbert Siegler for Russell Woodard Chrome Swivel Dining Chairs - 4

$3,650 / set

Vintage MCM Herbert Siegler for Russell Woodard Chrome Swivel Dining Chairs - 4

Located in West Palm Beach, FL

Make a bold statement with this rare set of four mid-century modern swivel chairs, designed by the visionary Herbert Saiger for the esteemed Russell Woodard. A hallmark of "Space Age...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Industrial Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Steel, Chrome

MCM Hannah Morrison Style Chrome Tubular Sling Dining Chairs - Set of 4

Located in Chicago, IL

Mid Century Modern Hannah Morrison Style Chrome Tubular Sling Dining Chairs - Set of 4

Category

Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Armchairs

Materials

Chrome

MCM Milo Baughman Chrome Frame Chairs Newly Upholstered in Leather - Pair of 2

$1,899 / set

$3,052

Modernist Red Leather Lounge Chair Eileen Gray Bibendum Armchair Deco MCM 1980s

By Eileen Gray

Located in London, GB

A gorgeous, rare and strikingly attractive Bibendum chair in lovely vintage condition. Designed by Modernist pioneer Eileen Gray exactly 100 years ago and likely made around the late...

Category

Vintage 1980s European Modern Armchairs

Materials

Materials

Chrome

Vintage MCM Signed Milo Baughman for James Inc Chrome Reclining Chair

Sold

H 38.75 in W 27.75 in D 29.5 in

Vintage MCM Signed Milo Baughman for James Inc Chrome Reclining Chair

By James Inc., Milo Baughman

Located in West Palm Beach, FL

Fantastic vintage MCM reclining chair. Made by the iconic Milo Baughman for James Inc. beautiful black leather with flat bar chrome frame.

Category

Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs

Materials

Chrome

Pair of 1970s Chrome Cantilever Club Chairs, Newly Upholstered

Located in West Palm Beach, FL

Pair of 1970s chrome cantilever club chairs, newly upholstered, with bright polished chrome frames supporting floating upholstered seats. Very comfortable. Arm height is 22-Inches ...

Category

20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs

Materials

Chrome

Streamline Art Deco Chrome Tubular Bauhaus Lounge Chair

$3,950

H 30 in W 24.25 in D 38.5 in

Streamline Art Deco Chrome Tubular Bauhaus Lounge Chair

By Gilbert Rohde, Kem Weber, Bauhaus, Wolfgang Hoffmann

Located in Chicago, IL

Streamline Art Deco Chrome Tubular Lounge Chair in the manner of Kem Weber. Designer unknown. Chair was reupholstered at some point with a black vinyl and airplane motif added. Sho...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Lounge Chairs

Materials

Chrome

Original Mid-Century Rocking Reclining Armchair, by LAMA, Chrome, France, 1960s

Modern Fabric Pendant Light by Studio Mirei, Nebula 60, from Costantini

Located in New York, NY

The Nebula collection is drawn out of the interstellar clouds of dust and gas in space - regions where stars begin to form. Made of a woven natural fiber from the banana tree, which ...

Category

2010s Italian Organic Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Materials

Natural Fiber

$2,400 / item

H 65 in Dm 10 in

Meander Leather Wrapped Flex Arm Floor Lamp

Located in Pound Ridge, NY

Meander Floor Lamp, with one leather wrapped flex arm. Sculptural, textural, colorful, flexible floor lamp. Shine a light on your favorite reading material or pose as you wish to ad...

Category

2010s American Floor Lamps

Materials

Metal, Brass

$3,188 / set

H 33.86 in W 20.87 in D 19.3 in

Antique Set 6 Regency Period Dining Chairs 19th Century

Located in London, GB

A fabulous set of six Regency Period mahogany dining chairs, Circa 1820 in date. The set comprises six side chairs all with ribbed solid top rails, pierced scrolling splats and padd...

Category

Antique Early 19th Century Regency Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Velvet, Mahogany

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Mcm Chrome Chair For Sale on 1stDibs

With a vast inventory of beautiful furniture at 1stDibs, we’ve got just the mcm chrome chair you’re looking for. Each mcm chrome chair for sale was constructed with extraordinary care, often using chrome, metal and fabric. Your living room may not be complete without a mcm chrome chair — find older editions for sale from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 20th Century. A mcm chrome chair, designed in the Mid-Century Modern, Modern or Scandinavian Modern style, is generally a popular piece of furniture. A well-made mcm chrome chair has long been a part of the offerings for many furniture designers and manufacturers, but those produced by Milo Baughman, David Rowland and Fritz Hansen are consistently popular.

How Much is a Mcm Chrome Chair?

Prices for a mcm chrome chair can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — at 1stDibs, they begin at $900 and can go as high as $7,995, while the average can fetch as much as $1,950.

A Close Look at Mid-century Modern Furniture

Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.

ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Emerged during the mid-20th century
Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
A heyday of innovation in postwar America
Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe

CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
Promotion of functionality

MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

Charles and Ray Eames
Eero Saarinen
Milo Baughman
Florence Knoll
Harry Bertoia
Isamu Noguchi
George Nelson
Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa

ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.

Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.

Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.

Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.

The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.

As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.

Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.

Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.

Finding the Right Seating for You

With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.

Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.

Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.

The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.

Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.

With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.

Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.

No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.

Questions About Mcm Chrome Chair

What is an MCM chair?
1 Answer
1stDibs ExpertMarch 3, 2023
An MCM chair is a mid-century modern chair. The design style known as mid-century modernism emerged during the mid-20th century and was informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. Organically shaped, clean lines and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern chairs and other furniture. Find a selection of vintage mid-century modern chairs on 1stDibs.

How Top Designers Are Using Mid-Century Chairs in Today’s Interiors

Modern icons are showing up in gracefully layered dining nooks, living rooms and lounges — proof that great design only gets better with context.

The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs

You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.

Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair Shook Modernism and Charmed Hollywood

The enduring appeal of the Barcelona chair is in the details.

Herman Miller Got Its Start in the Office, but Its Legacy Is in the Home

The brand that turned Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and George Nelson into mid-century household names is just as relevant today as it was six decades ago.