$6,500 / set
H 18 in W 50.5 in D 28 in
Italian Post-Modern Two-Piece Oval Parchment and Marble Coffee Table
Located in Queens, NY
Italian Contemporary oval coffee table in two sections with parchment veneer bases supporting beige
Breccia Marble
$3,950
H 16 in W 39.5 in D 39.5 in
Chinoiserie Oriental Maitland-Smith Post Modern Shagreen Coffee Table
By Maitland Smith
Located in Chicago, IL
Maitland-Smith Shagreen coffee table/signed on bottom. a couple spots where the shagreen has
Wood
$2,389 / set
H 16.93 in Dm 19.89 in
Italian Post-Modern Cylindrical Coffee Tables in Grey and Blue Plexiglass, 2000s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post-modern Cylindrical coffee tables in grey and blue plexiglass, 2000s Pair of
Plexiglass
$3,600Sale Price|25% Off
H 18 in W 63 in D 36 in
Post Modern Walnut Slab coffee table with colored triangle legs studio craft
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Post Modern Walnut Slab coffee table with colored triangle angled legs that protrude through the
Walnut, Lacquer
$3,673
H 11.82 in W 55.12 in D 29.53 in
1970 Post-Modern Green Patinated Wood and Stainless Steel Coffee Table
By Jean Claude Delagneau
Located in Brescia, IT
This is a stunning coffee table that was designed by the French artist Jean-Claude Delagneau, that
Stainless Steel
$960Sale Price|20% Off
H 16.5 in W 55 in D 24 in
Post Modern Formica and Glass Coffee Table After Panton, C 1970's
By Verner Panton
Located in New York, NY
Post Modern coffee, or cocktail, table having dramatic C shaped black formica ends which support
Glass, Formica
Post-Modern Style of Karl Springer Gray Goatskin Coffee Table
By Karl Springer, Taller Maria Teresa Mendez
Located in Chula Vista, CA
For your consideration Post-Modern Goatskin Coffee Table. Rectangular shape with angled legs. Wood
Goatskin
$2,100
H 15 in W 22 in D 22 in
Mid century Post modern square red coffee table on casters made in Italy
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Post modern square red coffee table on casters made in Italy. Good design good vintage condition
Wood, Lacquer
$2,350
H 15 in W 48 in D 30 in
Mid Century Italian Post Modern Rectangular Glass Coffee Table in Black & Gray
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Sleek post modern design from Italy circa early 90's. Textured resin over wood with clear glass top.
Glass, Wood
$1,080
H 17 in W 80 in D 41 in
1980s, Post Modern Black Lacquer Coffee Table in the Roger Rougier Style
By Roger Rougier
Located in Miami, FL
Vintage, large scale post modern sculptural Black Lacquer Coffee Table with a Triangular Glass top
Glass, Lacquer
Tord Bjorklund Post-modern Side or Coffee Table, Memphis Style, Sweden, 1980s
By IKEA, Tord Bjorklund
Located in Vienna, AT
A round folding Memphis style coffee / side / occasional flip-top table in yolk-yellow. Designed in
Metal
$7,850
H 16 in W 57.5 in D 27 in
Post Modern Art Deco Inspired Chrome, Brass & Glass Coffee Table by Lorin Marsh
By Lorin Marsh
Located in Pittsburgh, PA
This Post Modern Art Deco Inspired Chrome, Brass & Glass Coffee Table by Lorin Marsh is unique
Brass, Chrome
$2,800
H 15.5 in W 42 in D 44 in
Mid Century Italian Post Modern Memphis Sottsass Style Coffee Table in Black
By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A super funky cocktail table design from the 1980's and made in Italy. It features all steel
Metal
$1,250
H 17.25 in W 40 in D 27 in
Vintage Post Modern Kidney Freeform Biomorphic Coffee Table Maitland Smith
By Karl Springer
Located in Chicago, IL
Vintage wrapped Linen Kidney Coffee Table in the style of Karl Springer & Maitland Smith
Linen
$4,400
H 16.15 in W 31.5 in D 31.5 in
Post-Modern Brass and Black Steel Coffee Table by Emiel Veranneman, 1970's
By Emiel Veranneman
Located in Antwerp, BE
Post-modern black steel and brass top coffee table by art gallerist and designer Emiel Veranneman
Brass, Steel
$2,320Sale Price|20% Off
H 17.5 in W 66 in D 42 in
Post Modern Enamel and Glass Coffee Table Dated '91 Probably Made in Italy
By Ettore Sottsass, Michael Graves (b.1934)
Located in New York, NY
Intriguing Post Modern, Memphis style coffee table having opposing curved bases, of turquoise and
Metal
$5,500
H 16.5 in W 42 in D 38 in
Post Modern Karl Springer Coffee Table in Gunmetal Brass with Smoked Glass Top
By Karl Springer
Located in Lake Worth, FL
This vintage coffee table not signed but looks to be designed by Karl Springer is a stunning piece
Metal
$2,600
H 20 in W 52 in D 24 in
Post Modern Style “Apollo” Gilt Metal Coffee Table with Glass Top & Bottom Shelf
By Hastening Designs
Located in Middleburg, VA
Post Modern Style “Apollo” gilt metal coffee table. Excellent proportions, very architectural with
Steel
$1,120Sale Price|20% Off
H 15 in W 40 in D 40 in
Post Modern Hollywood Regency Style 1980's Vintage Coffee Table
By Karl Springer
Located in New York, NY
Voguish Hollywood Regency coffee table, having a tinted mirror insert top, which is supported by a
Aluminum
$2,400
H 12 in W 32.5 in D 32.5 in
Mid Century Post Modern Travertine Square Low Coffee table with Brass details
By Willy Rizzo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mid Century Post Modern Travertine Square Low Coffee table with Brass details. Great travertine
Travertine
Post-Modern Laquered Picasso Art Cocktail Table
By Memphis Milano
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Vintage cocktail table with a lacquered Picasso's "large stiff life with pedestal table" top. Circa
Brass
$2,800
H 16 in W 39 in D 39 in
Post Modern Black Marble Pedestal Base Coffee Table Made in Italy c 1970’s
Located in New York, NY
Stunning graphic back and white marble coffee table having a square pedestal base ( 16 x 16 x H 15
Marble
$2,070Sale Price|40% Off
H 16 in W 60 in D 24 in
Mid Century post Modern Custom Solid Birch Coffee Table Bench Black Lacquer
By Memphis Milano
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mid-Century Modern custom solid birch coffee table bench black lacquer. Very Heavy solid wood
Birch
$5,376 / item
H 17.72 in W 39.38 in D 19.69 in
Post Rural Model Coffee Table by Studio Superego, Italy
By Studio Superego
Located in Milan, Italy
Post Rural model coffee table designed by Studio Superego for Superego Editions. Colored plexiglass
Plexiglass
$4,539
H 15.75 in W 47.25 in D 15.75 in
A BRUTALIST RUSTIC-POST-MODERN SEVENTIES COFFEE TABLE, France 1960-1970
Located in PARIS, FR
An astonishing rectangular coffee or side table, Modernist, Constructivist, Brutalist, Seventies
Slate, Wrought Iron
$6,176 / item
H 15.99 in W 63 in D 63 in
1020 Post Modern Square Coffee Table in Solid Oak by No Age Studio
Located in Geneve, CH
1020 Post Modern Square Coffee Table in Solid Oak by No Age Studio Dimensions: D 160 x W 160 x H
Oak
$3,200
H 15 in Dm 42 in
Stacked Glass Fan Shape Base Round Coffee Table Italian Post Modern Mid Century
By Brueton, Pace Collection
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Stacked Glass Fan Shape Base Round Coffee Table Italian Post Modern Mid Century MINT!
Glass
1980’s Italian Parsons Travertine Coffee Table
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Chicago, IL
Post modern Italian Parsons travertine coffee table in style of Angelo Mangiarotti.
Travertine
$1,304Sale Price|68% Off
H 15 in W 50.5 in D 25.5 in
1970s Vintage Tiered Triangle Post Black Granite Coffee Table, 2 Pieces
Located in Asheville, NC
Classic post modern tiered Italian black Granite coffee piece comprised of 2 triangular shape
Granite
Ettore Sottsass Tony Table Post-Modern Italy, circa 1970
By Anthologie Quartett 1, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Vienna, AT
A fine example of the work of Ettore Sottsass, the Tony 3 table was imagined by the famous designer
Plastic, Wood
Modern Coffee Table by Donatas Zukauskas
By Donatas Žukauskas
Located in Geneve, CH
Modern Coffee Table by Donatas Zukauskas Dimensions: Ø 63 x H 40 cm. Materials: Oak, and mixed
Other
$4,100
H 15 in W 55 in D 55 in
Italian Post Modern Travertine Triangular Marble 2 Piece Cocktail Table
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This Italian post-modern cocktail table is crafted from luxurious travertine marble, showcasing two
Travertine
$1,620
H 21.5 in W 30 in D 22 in
Post Modern Minimalist California Design Brass & Walnut Cocktail End Table
Located in San Diego, CA
A well-constructed modernist cocktail table with walnut walls and a patinated brass top. Made in
Brass
Modern Coffee Table by Donatas Zukauskas
By Donatas Žukauskas
Located in Geneve, CH
Modern Coffee Table by Kasanai Dimensions: D 63 x H 40 cm. Materials: Oak, cement, recycled paper
Concrete
$4,800 / set
H 12 in W 55 in D 55 in
Midcentury Italian Post Modern Travertine Marble 2 Piece Cocktail Table
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Two piece contemporary design circa 1990s from Italy. Solid travertine construction. Each table
Travertine
$2,850
H 16.75 in W 51.75 in D 36.25 in
Italian Coffee Table Macassar and Birch 52" x 36" x 17" Mid Century Post Modern
Located in Atlanta, GA
Clean Lined Italian Coffee Table, Italy, circa 1980s. It is believed to be constructed of birch
Wood, Macassar
Solid Brass Square Posts Legs Glass Top Coffee Table
By Mastercraft, Widdicomb Furniture Co.
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Mid-Century Modern 3/4" thick glass top coffee table standing on polished brass legs.
Brass
$795Sale Price|20% Off
H 22.38 in W 24 in D 28 in
Art Deco Style Sculptural Post Modern Arched Tessellated Stone Cocktail Table
By Maitland Smith, Magnussen Furniture
Located in Chattanooga, TN
have a matching dining table with matching chairs, end table and coffee table… all sold separately
Stone
$3,900 / set
H 16.5 in W 21 in D 21 in
Trio of Midcentury Italian Post Modern Faux Stone Cocktail Table Set
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A post modern set of three circular cocktail tables from Italy circa 1980's. Each table measure 21
Resin, Plaster
American Modern Design Faux Ivory Coffee Table
By Karl Springer
Located in Queens, NY
American Modern design rectangular coffee table with faux ivory brick design surface. (from the
$1,800
H 22 in W 27.5 in D 27.5 in
Vintage Italian Travertine Stone Side Table by Stone International Post-Modern
By Stone International, Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Miami, FL
. See our storefront for the matching coffee table being sold separately! 27.5" w 27.5" d x 22" H
Stone, Travertine
Funky Post Modern Colorful Side Table ca' 1990
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
. Post modern, in the style of Memphis. See the matching coffee table.
Aluminum
$975 / item
H 18 in W 48 in D 30 in
Pair of Post Modern Brutalist Iron Base Glass Top Coffee Tables c. 1980/90's
By Mastercraft
Located in New York, NY
Pair of Brutalist style verdigris finish metal based, tempered glass top coffee tables, in
Iron
$4,200
H 17.5 in W 66 in D 46 in
Mid Century Italian Post Modern Black & White Kidney Shape Cocktail Table
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A large free form coffee table from Italy circa 1980's. It features cast concrete legs with
Concrete
$4,200
H 16 in W 60 in D 30 in
Mid Century Italian Post Modern Rectangular Cocktail Table in Glass & Marble
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A large and substantial coffee table from Italy circa 1970's. It features a thick clear glass top
Metal, Brass
$7,650
H 15.5 in W 59.25 in D 31.82 in
Italian Modern Karl Springer Style Travertine Biomorphic Coffee Table
By Karl Springer, Angelo Mangiarotti, Mario Bellini, Romeo Rega
Located in Houston, TX
Italian Modern Karl Springer Style Travertine Free Form Coffee Table. Beautifully designed Italian
Travertine
1970s Post-Modern Tessellated Stone Side Table with Glass Top
By Maitland Smith
Located in Chattanooga, TN
metal, this Post-Modern side table is sculptural architecture made furniture—an elegant merging of
Stone, Brass
$22,000
H 14.97 in W 76.78 in D 51.19 in
Pere Cosp Singel Model Coffee Table Iron Spain Post War Reconstruction
By Signed P. Cosp
Located in Lège Cap Ferret, FR
PERE COSP (Barcelona, 1907-2007). Coffee table, 1948-1949. wood and iron feet. With marks of use
Iron
$2,800Sale Price|33% Off
H 13.5 in W 68.5 in D 43.25 in
Jean Claude Mahey Post-Modern Cocktail Table, 1980s France, Signed
By Jean Claude Mahey
Located in Los Angeles, CA
cocktail table by Jean Claude Mahey would work great in a Post-Modern, Mid-Century Modern, Space Age Mod
Wood, Goatskin
American Modern Geometric Black Glass and Brass Coffee Table
Located in Queens, NY
American Modern design rectangular geometric faceted form black glass coffee table with brass
Brass
Marc D'Haens Belgian Modern Cast Copper and Quartz Coffee Table
By Marc D'haenens
Located in Queens, NY
Belgian Modern design round sculptural cast copper coffee table with inset quartz stone on a copper
Quartz, Copper
‘Surfboard’ Coffee Table
By Sean Gerstley
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
‘Surfboard’ Coffee Table By Sean Gerstley America, 2021 Glazed Ceramic and Epoxy Resin 63”W x 21 1
Ceramic, Epoxy Resin
Brazilian Modern Coffee Table by Sergio Rodrigues in Lacquered Wood
By Sergio Rodrigues
Located in Sao Paulo, SP
Brazilian modern "Augusto" round coffee table by Sergio Rodrigues, 1991 Black lacquered wood and
Marble
$2,900
H 40 in W 42 in D 16 in
Mid-Century Post Modern Sculptural Faux Plaster Rock Cocktail Table after Sirmos
By Sirmos
Located in Philadelphia, PA
An unusual and contemporary molded faux beige stone coffee table in the manner Sirmos. It features
Resin, Plaster
$720Sale Price|52% Off
H 18.25 in W 40 in D 40 in
Design Institute America Glass Lucite and Chrome Modern Cocktail Coffee Table
By Design Institute America
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
A Design Institute America contemporary modern coffee table. This lovely modern design coffee table
Chrome
Mid Century Modern Fritz Hansen Style Beveled Glass Top Coffee Table
Located in Chicago, IL
Mid Century ModernFritz Hansen Style Chromed Base Squared Beveled Glass Top Coffee Table Its
Chrome
Blocks Coffee Table
By Chuch Estudio
Located in Mérida, MX
The blocks coffee table was inspired by the construction context in Mexico, a reinterpretation of
Stone
Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
As a practical focal point in your living area, antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables are an invaluable addition to any interior.
Low tables that were initially used as tea tables or coffee tables have been around since at least the mid- to late-1800s. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. In the United States, furniture makers worked to introduce low, long tables into their offerings as the popularity of coffee and “coffee breaks” took hold during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
It didn’t take long for coffee tables and cocktail tables to become a design staple and for consumers to recognize their role in entertaining no matter what beverages were being served. Originally, these tables were as simple as they are practical — as high as your sofa and made primarily of wood. In recent years, however, metal, glass and plastics have become popular in coffee tables and cocktail tables, and design hasn’t been restricted to the conventional low profile, either.
Visionary craftspeople such as Paul Evans introduced bold, geometric designs that challenge the traditional idea of what a coffee table can be. The elongated rectangles and wide boxy forms of Evans’s desirable Cityscape coffee table, for example, will meet your needs but undoubtedly prove imposing in your living space.
If you’re shopping for an older coffee table to bring into your home — be it an antique Georgian-style coffee table made of mahogany or walnut with decorative inlays or a classic square mid-century modern piece comprised of rosewood designed by the likes of Ettore Sottsass — there are a few things you should keep in mind.
Both the table itself and what you put on it should align with the overall design of the room, not just by what you think looks fashionable in isolation. According to interior designer Tamara Eaton, the material of your vintage coffee table is something you need to consider. “With a glass coffee table, you also have to think about the surface underneath, like the rug or floor,” she says. “With wood and stone tables, you think about what’s on top.”
Find the perfect centerpiece for any room, no matter what your personal furniture style on 1stDibs — shop Art Deco coffee tables, travertine coffee tables and other antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables today.