$390Sale Price / item|60% Off
H 15.5 in W 15 in D 15 in
Set of Three Vintage Iron and Canvas Side Tables / Stools
Located in San Diego, CA
Set of three vintage iron and canvas side tables / stools, circa 1970s. The table bases are forged iron and the tops are marine grade canvas that is tightly wrapped and then tied on ...
Iron
Set of 6 Olive Wood Egg Cups, Hand-Carved 1960s French Folk Art
Located in ROUEN, Normandie
Set of 6 Olive Wood Egg Cups, Hand-Carved 1960s French Folk Art Charming set of six vintage French egg cups / French Folk Art Hand-carved in olive wood during the 1960s Each piece...
Wood, Olive
Achille Castiglioni ‘Castiglia’ Chairs, 1968, Zanotta
By Zanotta, Achille Castiglioni
Located in Kampen, NL
A pair of ‘Castiglia’ chairs, designed in 1968 by famous italian architect and designer Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta. These chairs feature a chromed tubular steel frame with seaml...
Steel, Chrome
$135 / item
H 20.25 in W 12.5 in D 12 in
Masayuki Matsukaze Sistema Scuola Children's Chairs for Kartell, 1970s
By Kartell
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A delightful and highly functional set of "Sistema Scuola" children's chairs, designed by Masayuki Matsukaze for the renowned Italian manufacturer Kartell in the 1970s. These chairs ...
Plastic
$997 / set
H 29.93 in W 19.69 in D 15.36 in
Italian glossy black plastic Selene chairs, Vico Magistretti for Artemide, 1960s
By Artemide, Vico Magistretti
Located in MIlano, IT
Selene chairs, of modern Italian design, entirely in glossy black plastic, designed by Vico Magistretti for Artemide in the 1960s. Pair of Selene model chairs with monocoque structur...
Plastic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular system,...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Container For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Container For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Container, part of the...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular system,...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Cover For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Cover For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Vase For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Vase For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular ...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Container For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Container For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Container, part of the...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Bowl For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Bowl For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Bowl, part of the modular s...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Cover For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Cover For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Bowl For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Bowl For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Bowl, part of the modular s...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular system,...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Container For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Container For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Container, part of the...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Set of Three Torrecotta For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Set of Three Torrecotta For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the mo...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Bowl For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Bowl For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Bowl, part of the modular s...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Vase For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Vase For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular ...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Cover For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Cover For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular...
Ceramic
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Vase For Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Davide Oldani Attila Veres Torrecotta - Vase For Cassina The result of a collaboration between chef Davide Oldani and designer Attila Veress, Torrecotta Vase, part of the modular ...
Ceramic
Trompe l'Oeil Porcelain Canister by Mancioli, Italy, 1960s
By Mancioli Pottery, Tiffany & Co.
Located in Miami, FL
Vintage Trompe l'Oeil Porcelain Canister depicting a stack of 29 plates with walnuts on top plate, circa 1960s. This vintage item is signed on the bottom: Mancioli - Italy. It is alm...
Porcelain, Paint
Handmade Indonesian Terracotta Lidded Jar with Beaded Raffia Accents.
Located in Seattle, WA
This handcrafted lidded jar originates from Indonesia and features a richly textured terracotta body with speckled surface detailing. The lid is topped with a sculpted seated figure ...
Ceramic
Bruno Rey for Dietiker Round Coffee Tables
By Bruno Rey
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Bruno Rey for Dietiker, coffee tables, lacquered wood, Switzerland, 1970s These coffee tables, designed by Swiss designer Bruno Rey, have a distinctive design that adds character to...
Wood
$1,283 / set
H 10.24 in Dm 8.67 in
Set of Vintage Space Age Jug and Cups by Jean Pierre Vitrac for Depose France
Located in Beirut, LB
This beautiful vintage orange stackable set is made from ABS plastic. Composed of a pitcher, two stirrers, and six cups,, of which all are stackable. Very convenient for storage,...
Plastic
Tivoli Chair by Mikko Laakkonen for Cizeta, Solid Wood
By Mikko Laakkonen
Located in Philadelphia, PA
The Tivoli chair is inspired by Scandinavian design from the mid 12th century. This model has light-colored ash wood frame and upholstered in light grey fabric called Steelcut Trio. ...
Fabric, Wood
Handmade Indonesian Terracotta Lidded Jar with Beaded Raffia Accents
Located in Seattle, WA
This handcrafted lidded jar originates from Indonesia and features a richly textured terracotta body with speckled surface detailing. The lid is topped with a sculpted seated figure ...
Ceramic
$1,400
H 30.13 in W 26.5 in D 25 in
Vintage Plona Folding Chair in Smoked Acrylic by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli
By Giancarlo Piretti, Castelli
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Early Plona desk/accent chair composed of a molded smoked acrylic seat and foldable aluminum frame designed by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli (ca. 1970, Italy). Collapsible/stackable...
Aluminum
Tom Bendon Studio Craft Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Studio craft desk by Colorado woodworker, Tom Bendon c.1971, USA. The walnut desk features a thick sculpted wood frame and top storage hutch. The hutch has two sliding doors that rev...
Walnut
$7,750
H 29.93 in W 43.31 in D 27.96 in
M.C. Magnani & A. Schieppati 1950s Milanese Vanity Table in Walnut and Maple
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Studio Architettura Ambientazione Arredamento M.C. Magnani & A. Schieppati, vanity table, walnut, maple, mirrored glass, Milan, Italy, 1950s This charming vanity table is a 1950s de...
Mirror, Maple, Walnut
$1,200Sale Price|20% Off
H 22 in W 26 in D 18 in
Tole Painted Italian Lidded End Table Marblized End Papers 1940s/50s
Located in Camden, ME
Designed to delight and surprise, this end table exemplifies mid-century Italian taste for playful, illusionistic objects that combined utility with wit.
Tôle, Tin
5-in-1 Drinking Glass Set by Joe Colombo, Mouth-Blown Crystal, Italy
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
5-in-1 Drinking Glass set by Joe Colombo, 1970 Italian industrial designer Joe Colombo pursued a career in painting and sculpture before he transitioned to design in the 1950s. In ev...
Crystal
Vintage Twisted Iron Tassel Magazine Rack — Hollywood Regency Style
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
The sculptural form is both airy and architectural, with gracefully arched handles and twisted-iron rails that feel equally chic in a traditional interior, modern eclectic home, or F...
Metal
PR03 Brass Folding Chair Royal Blue Faux Leather
Located in Chula Vista, CA
For your consideration, Folding chair, which stacks very easily. Great for limited storage. Brass plated finish with faux leather in royal blue. Price per item. Custom made. Please i...
Brass
Set of Five Joe Colombo '5-in-1' Glass Vases by Karakter
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Set of Five Joe Colombo '5-in-1' glass vases by Karakter Italian industrial designer Joe Colombo pursued a career in painting and sculpture before he transitioned to design in the ...
Glass
$554Sale Price|20% Off
H 6.3 in W 3.94 in D 1.58 in
Nesting Candle Holders by Fratelli Mannelli Italian Travertine Marble Puzzle
By Fratelli Mannelli
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
The vintage Fratelli Mannelli travertine nesting candle holders are exquisite examples of Italian craftsmanship and design. Fratelli Mannelli is a renowned Italian company known for ...
Travertine, Marble
Chinese Hexagonal Four-Tier Woven Bamboo Basket with Carved Handle
Located in Yonkers, NY
This Chinese four-tier basket presents a compelling mix of woven craftsmanship, lacquered structure, and small painted accents that add subtle charm. The hexagonal form gives it a cr...
Wood, Bamboo
Alessandro Albrizzi Lucite Cube, Italy 1970s
By Alessandro Albrizzi
Located in Autonomous City Buenos Aires, CABA
The design is distinguished by its Mid-Century Modern and Space Age aesthetic, with a strong geometric exterior and an organic spherical void inside, playing with light, the refracti...
Lucite
$2,700 / set
H 10 in Dm 10 in
1970s Space Age Ceramic Tableware Set 'La Boule' by Villeroy & Boch, Germany
By Helen von Boch, Villeroy & Boch
Located in North Miami, FL
Designed to serve four, this set embodies Mid-Century Modern innovation and creativity, making it a timeless example of functional art.
Ceramic, Clay, Paint
Art Deco table Lamp , Design, Damon & Marcel-Louis Baugniet, Belgium
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
In 1904 the first Jansen branch outside Paris was established in Buenos Aires, as the Argentinean clientele demanded a large amount of furniture, from the end of the 19th century to ...
Chrome
Art Deco table Lamp , Design, Damon & Marcel-Louis Baugniet, Belgium
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
In 1904 the first Jansen branch outside Paris was established in Buenos Aires, as the Argentinean clientele demanded a large amount of furniture, from the end of the 19th century to ...
Chrome
Bernt Peterson Double Drop Leaf Table Desk with Free Standing Return
By Bernt Petersen
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Bernt Peterson designed minimalist drop-leaf office table desk in oak. This is a substantial and well constructed table finished with spare but elegant details. Either or both dr...
Oak
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
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
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.
It's hard to resist the allure of a beautiful pool. So, go ahead and daydream about whiling away your summer in paradise.
Modern icons are showing up in gracefully layered dining nooks, living rooms and lounges — proof that great design only gets better with context.
With its grid-like doors and wavy trim, the 1940s design feels as fresh as ever.
The alluring pendant light exemplifies the designer’s winsome mid-career work.
Prehistoric motifs give the mid-century Italian fireplace an elemental feel.
Their charming solid-oak pieces offer homes utility and comfort.
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
Designer Susan Yeley turned to 1stDibs to outfit an Indiana home with standout pieces that complement its modernist style.