What is a mid-century sofa?

A mid-century sofa is any sofa created during the mid-20th century. Mid-century modern sofas are pieces of seating furniture that embody the venturesome attributes that we associate with mid-century modern furniture — while not all sofas designed in the mid-century modern style are the same, they frequently have a low profile and are characterized by gentle curves, clean lines and an organic shape. Mid-century furniture is a timeless classic due to its elegant simplicity. Shop a collection of antique, vintage, and contemporary mid-century sofas from some of the world’s top dealers on 1stDibs.

Mid Century Sofa Aluminum

Arne Jacobsen Swan Sofa

Sls Hotel

Swan Couch

Ds 31 De Sede Sofa

Mid Century Modular Seating

Janus Et Cie

Bruce Hannah Andrew Morrison Knoll

Mid Century Three Seat Bench

Sensational aluminium, brass and glass console or sofa table, great quality and exceptional, sculptural design. This table measures 26.5" T x 56" L x 14.5" D.

Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Console Tables

Materials

Aluminum, Brass

$5,600 / set

H 33 in W 72 in D 33 in

Machine Age Industrial Aluminum Frame Sofa And Ottoman Set

Located in Brooklyn, NY

This sleek Machine Age Industrial three seat sofa with matching ottoman features a streamlined design with an exposed brushed aluminum frame in a geometric form. The armrests are cap...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Machine Age Armchairs

Materials

Aluminum

Recent Sales

Unavailable

H 30.32 in W 73.23 in D 27.96 in

Seating Group with Sofa and Three Lounge Chairs, France, circa 1960s

Located in Frankfurt / Dreieich, DE

Seating Group, with Sofa and three Lounge Chairs, France ca. 1960`s. Aluminum Swivel Base (Chairs) and green Fabric. Excellent Condition ! Sofa: wide 186 cm, H 77 cm, SH 40 cm...

Category

Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

By Herman Miller, George Nelson

Located in South Charleston, WV

Produced 1952 by Herman Miller, designed by George Nelson and Associates. This side table is used as a lamp table on George Nelson sofas instead of the table tops they were supplied ...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas

Materials

Materials

Fabric

$9,989

H 28.75 in W 124.41 in D 39.38 in

B&B Italia “Charles” Sofa, 4-Seat Sectional, in Purple Wool

Located in Barrowford, GB

Hello Friends, and welcome to another unmissable offering from Lord Browns Furniture, the UK’s premier resource for fine Sofas and Chairs. On offer on this occasion is an iconic “...

Category

2010s Sofas

Materials

Wool

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Mid Century Sofa Aluminum For Sale on 1stDibs

Choose from an assortment of styles, material and more with respect to the mid century sofa aluminum you’re looking for at 1stDibs. Frequently made of metal, aluminum and fabric, every mid century sofa aluminum was constructed with great care. There are 147 variations of the antique or vintage mid century sofa aluminum you’re looking for, while we also have 7 modern editions of this piece to choose from as well. Your living room may not be complete without a mid century sofa aluminum — find older editions for sale from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 21st Century. A mid century sofa aluminum is a generally popular piece of furniture, but those created in Mid-Century Modern styles are sought with frequency. You’ll likely find more than one mid century sofa aluminum that is appealing in its simplicity, but Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames and De Sede produced versions that are worth a look.

How Much is a Mid Century Sofa Aluminum?

Prices for a mid century sofa aluminum start at $580 and top out at $134,000 with the average selling for $5,898.

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.

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.