Midcentury Armchair
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Beech
Vintage 1950s Slovakian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Bentwood
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Leather
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Maple
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Mohair
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Brass
Vintage 1950s French Armchairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Coconut, Wool, Oak
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Teak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s Polish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Beech
Vintage 1950s Italian Armchairs
Textile
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Faux Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Textile, Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Teak
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Suede, Teak
Vintage 1950s British Armchairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Polish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Cotton, Oak
Vintage 1950s English Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Elm
Antique 1660s European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Linen, Wood
20th Century Italian Armchairs
Brass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Lambskin
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Walnut
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Oak
Mid-20th Century Armchairs
Rush, Oak
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Velvet
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Cotton, Wood
Vintage 1960s Polish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Faux Leather, Wood
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1940s French Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Hardwood, Teak
Vintage 1960s Polish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Beech
Vintage 1960s Danish Armchairs
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Armchairs
Pine
Late 20th Century Armchairs
Chrome
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Midcentury Armchair For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Midcentury Armchair?
A Close Look at Mid-Century Modern Furniture
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American 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.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s 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, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century 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, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
Finding the Right Armchairs for You
Armchairs have run the gamut from prestige to ease and everything in between.
Long before industrial mass production democratized seating, armchairs conveyed status and power. In ancient Egypt, the commoners took stools, while in early Greece, ceremonial chairs of carved marble were designated for nobility. But the high-backed early thrones of yore, elevated and ornate, were merely grandiose iterations of today’s armchairs.
Modern-day armchairs, built with functionality and comfort in mind, are now central to tasks throughout your home. Formal dining armchairs support your guests at a table for a cheery feast, a good drafting chair with a deep seat is parked in front of an easel where you create art and, elsewhere, an ergonomic wonder of sorts positions you at the desk for your 9 to 5.
When placed under just the right lamp where you can lounge comfortably, both elbows resting on the padded supports on each side of you, an upholstered armchair — or a rattan armchair for your light-suffused sunroom — can be the sanctuary where you’ll read for hours. If you’re in the mood for company, your velvet chesterfield armchair is a place to relax and be part of the conversation that swirls around you. Maybe the dialogue is about the beloved Papa Bear chair, a mid-century modern masterpiece from Danish carpenter and furniture maker Hans Wegner, and the wingback’s strong association with the concept of cozying up by the fireplace, which we can trace back to its origins in 1600s-era England, when the seat’s distinctive arm protrusions protected the sitter from the heat of the period’s large fireplaces.
If the fireside armchair chat involves spirited comparisons, your companions will likely probe the merits of antique and vintage armchairs such as Queen Anne armchairs, Victorian armchairs or even Louis XVI armchairs, as well as the pros and cons of restoration versus conservation.
Everyone seems to have a favorite armchair and most people will be all too willing to talk about their beloved design. Whether that’s the unique Favela chair by Brazilian sibling furniture designers Fernando and Humberto Campana, who repurpose everyday objects to artful effect; or Marcel Breuer’s futuristic tubular metal Wassily lounge chair; the functionality-first LC series from Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret; or the Eames lounge chair of the mid-1950s created by Charles and Ray Eames, there is an iconic armchair for everyone and every purpose. Find yours on 1stDibs right now.
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