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A Set of 4 MEMPHIS POST-MODERN CHAIRS, Italy 1980
A Set of 4 MEMPHIS POST-MODERN CHAIRS, Italy 1980

A Set of 4 MEMPHIS POST-MODERN CHAIRS, Italy 1980

By Willy Rizzo

Located in PARIS, FR

A set of 4 Post-Modernist chairs, Memphis, Bauhaus, metal structures with square section and

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

1980s Post-Modern Memphis Style Chairs, 3 Pairs Available
1980s Post-Modern Memphis Style Chairs, 3 Pairs Available

1980s Post-Modern Memphis Style Chairs, 3 Pairs Available

By Memphis Group

Located in Miami, FL

1980s Post-Modern Memphis Style chairs- 3 Pairs available Offered for sale is a pair of 1980s

Category

Vintage 1980s Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Post modern chair 80s Memphis movement, Ettore Sottsass spirit
Post modern chair 80s Memphis movement, Ettore Sottsass spirit

Post modern chair 80s Memphis movement, Ettore Sottsass spirit

By Philippe Starck, Pierre Sala, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano

Located in Paris, FR

Post modern chair 80s Memphis movement, spirit of Ettore Sottsass, Starck, Ettore Sottsass, Pierre

Category

Vintage 1980s French Chairs

Materials

Metal

Memphis Style Vintage Beech Animal Zebra Side Chair Italy, 1980s
Memphis Style Vintage Beech Animal Zebra Side Chair Italy, 1980s

Memphis Style Vintage Beech Animal Zebra Side Chair Italy, 1980s

By Memphis Milano

Located in Vienna, AT

Memphis style vintage beechwood chair or side chair with zebra pattern upholstery Italy, 1980s. A

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Fabric, Beech

Post modern Memphis dining chairs in bouclé, 1980s
Post modern Memphis dining chairs in bouclé, 1980s

Post modern Memphis dining chairs in bouclé, 1980s

Located in Zaandam, NL

Gorgeous set of 6 memphis dining chairs in turquoise with white bouclé upholstery on metal wire

Category

Vintage 1980s Dutch Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal, Chrome

Post Modern Memphis Style Club Lounge Chair by Bernhardt
Post Modern Memphis Style Club Lounge Chair by Bernhardt

Post Modern Memphis Style Club Lounge Chair by Bernhardt

By Bernhardt

Located in New York, NY

Pure 1980's Postmodern, memphis influence lounge, arm chair. Gutsy tapered legs support the

Category

Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Wood

Charles Hollis Jones Postmodern Memphis Inspired Lounge Chair
Charles Hollis Jones Postmodern Memphis Inspired Lounge Chair

Charles Hollis Jones Postmodern Memphis Inspired Lounge Chair

By Memphis Group

Located in Van Nuys, CA

Memphis-inspired asymmetric sculptural lounge chair with unique tri-color design and acrylic legs

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Leather, Wood

Memphis Milano Palace Chair by George J. Sowden
Memphis Milano Palace Chair by George J. Sowden

Memphis Milano Palace Chair by George J. Sowden

By George Sowden, Memphis Milano

Located in Toronto, ON

The solemnity and essentiality of Palace by George J. Sowden make this chair a true icon of the

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Wood, Lacquer

Set of 8 Post Modern Multi-Colored Memphis Style Chairs
Set of 8 Post Modern Multi-Colored Memphis Style Chairs

Set of 8 Post Modern Multi-Colored Memphis Style Chairs

Located in Queens, NY

Set of 8 American Memphis-style (early 90s) metal framed side chairs with multicolored upholstered

Category

20th Century Unknown Post-Modern Side Chairs

Materials

Metal

Set of 6 Post Modern tan gloss Lacquer curved dining chairs made in Italy
Set of 6 Post Modern tan gloss Lacquer curved dining chairs made in Italy

Set of 6 Post Modern tan gloss Lacquer curved dining chairs made in Italy

By Memphis Milano

Located in Brooklyn, NY

Set of (6) Post Modern Tan / cream Gloss Lacquer curved tall back dining chairs Memphis Milano

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Wood, Lacquer

Three Whimsical Sawaya and Moroni Post Modern Memphis Style Occasional Chairs
Three Whimsical Sawaya and Moroni Post Modern Memphis Style Occasional Chairs

Three Whimsical Sawaya and Moroni Post Modern Memphis Style Occasional Chairs

By Luigi Serafini, Sawaya & Moroni

Located in Ferndale, MI

Milan Italy . Post modern Memphis style chairs always brings a smile to my face . Circular backrest has

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Side Chairs

Materials

Steel

1980ies Palace chair designed by George Sowden for Memphis Milano
1980ies Palace chair designed by George Sowden for Memphis Milano

1980ies Palace chair designed by George Sowden for Memphis Milano

By George Sowden, Memphis Milano

Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg

1980ies Memphis Milano Palace chair in colored lacquered wood designed by George Sowden, 1983

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Plywood

Set of 6 post modern dining chairs by Peter Handler Studio
Set of 6 post modern dining chairs by Peter Handler Studio

Set of 6 post modern dining chairs by Peter Handler Studio

By Peter Handler, Memphis Milano

Located in Brooklyn, NY

Set of six post modern dining chairs from Peter Handler Studio with anodized aluminum frames with

Category

Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Kim Chair by Michele de Lucchi for Memphis-Milano, 1980s
Kim Chair by Michele de Lucchi for Memphis-Milano, 1980s

Kim Chair by Michele de Lucchi for Memphis-Milano, 1980s

By Memphis Milano, Michele de Lucchi

Located in Renens, CH

The Kim chair was designed by the Italian architect Michele de Lucchi in 1987: De Lucchi was one of

Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Steel

1980s Memphis Style Slipper Chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, a Pair
1980s Memphis Style Slipper Chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, a Pair

1980s Memphis Style Slipper Chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, a Pair

By Milo Baughman, Memphis Milano

Located in Roanoke, VA

restrained, idealized Modernism, Baughman designed a small collection of 11 colorful, post-modern pieces and

Category

Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Textile

Set of 8 + 1 post modern Memphis style dining chairs, 1980s by Lübke
Set of 8 + 1 post modern Memphis style dining chairs, 1980s by Lübke

Set of 8 + 1 post modern Memphis style dining chairs, 1980s by Lübke

By Lübke

Located in Zaandam, NL

Wonderful set of 8 + 1 "Memphis" post modern dining chairs by Lübke, Germany 1980s in the rare

Category

Vintage 1980s German Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

Set of 4 Italian Post-Modern / Memphis Dining Chairs by Massimo Iosa Ghini
Set of 4 Italian Post-Modern / Memphis Dining Chairs by Massimo Iosa Ghini

Set of 4 Italian Post-Modern / Memphis Dining Chairs by Massimo Iosa Ghini

By Massimo Iosa Ghini

Located in New York, NY

Set of 4 Italian Post-Modern / Memphis Bolidist "Velox" dining chairs by Massimo Iosa Ghini for

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Steel

Nathalie chair designed by Nathalie du Pasquier for Memphis Milano ca. 1990
Nathalie chair designed by Nathalie du Pasquier for Memphis Milano ca. 1990

Nathalie chair designed by Nathalie du Pasquier for Memphis Milano ca. 1990

By Memphis Milano, Nathalie du Pasquier

Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg

Nathalie chair designed by Nathalie du Pasquier for Memphis Milano, 1987 Manufactured by Memphis

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Steel, Chrome

Kim Steel and Plywood Chair Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Original 1980s
Kim Steel and Plywood Chair Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Original 1980s

Kim Steel and Plywood Chair Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Original 1980s

By Memphis Group, Michele de Lucchi

Located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Kim chair designed by Michele De Lucchi in 1987. Made of unique shaped black steel frame and bent

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Steel

Set of 4 post modern wood and wool chairs, Italy 1970s
Set of 4 post modern wood and wool chairs, Italy 1970s

Set of 4 post modern wood and wool chairs, Italy 1970s

By Vico Magistretti, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in ECHT, NL

Set of 4 post modern design dining chairs. Quality made chairs made from solid wood. The seats have

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Wool, Wood

Glouchester chair by George Sowden for Memphis Milano
Glouchester chair by George Sowden for Memphis Milano

Glouchester chair by George Sowden for Memphis Milano

By George Sowden, Memphis Milano

Located in Ravenna, IT

Sowden per Memphis Milano nel 1986. Come per molti pezzi della collezione Memphis, il nome del pezzo è

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Wood

Post modern Anna Anselmi for Bieffeplast chair white metal rubber tubular frame
Post modern Anna Anselmi for Bieffeplast chair white metal rubber tubular frame

Post modern Anna Anselmi for Bieffeplast chair white metal rubber tubular frame

By Memphis Milano, Bieffeplast, Anna Anselmi

Located in Brooklyn, NY

for (1) Chair Each chair measures H 30" W 24" Depth 20"

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

MEMPHIS "FIRST" Chair / Michele De Lucchi (Italy) / Postmodern Chair
MEMPHIS "FIRST" Chair / Michele De Lucchi (Italy) / Postmodern Chair

MEMPHIS "FIRST" Chair / Michele De Lucchi (Italy) / Postmodern Chair

By Michele de Lucchi

Located in Tinton Falls, NJ

The Most Popular MEMPHIS Chair!!! FIRST is an iconic and sculptural creation conceived by Michele

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Sottsass Inspired Memphis Milano Chair, Italy, 1980s
Sottsass Inspired Memphis Milano Chair, Italy, 1980s

Sottsass Inspired Memphis Milano Chair, Italy, 1980s

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Antwerp, BE

Playful and sophisticated, this Memphis-style chair captures the essence of postmodern design with

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Steel

KFF Trix Memphis chair by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988
KFF Trix Memphis chair by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988

KFF Trix Memphis chair by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988

By Karl Friedrich Förster, KFF

Located in Ludwigslust, DE

This Memphis-style Trix chair features a black metal frame and a natural-colored seat and backrest

Category

Vintage 1980s German Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

1980s Sculptural Coned Leopard Velvet Steel Swivel Stools Chairs
1980s Sculptural Coned Leopard Velvet Steel Swivel Stools Chairs

1980s Sculptural Coned Leopard Velvet Steel Swivel Stools Chairs

By Memphis Group

Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL

On offer on this occasion is one of the most stunning, velvet leopard print, swivel stools you could hope to find. Outstanding design is exhibited throughout. The beautiful set is s...

Category

Vintage 1980s Post-Modern Swivel Chairs

Materials

Steel

KFF Trix Memphis Chair by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988 Sottsass Postmodern
KFF Trix Memphis Chair by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988 Sottsass Postmodern

KFF Trix Memphis Chair by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988 Sottsass Postmodern

By Karl Friedrich Förster, KFF

Located in Munster, NRW

This Memphis-style Trix chair features a metal frame and a natural-colored seat and backrest. The

Category

Vintage 1980s Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Steel

Vintage Memphis Milano Cassini Style Tall Ladder Back Chairs, Pair
Vintage Memphis Milano Cassini Style Tall Ladder Back Chairs, Pair

Vintage Memphis Milano Cassini Style Tall Ladder Back Chairs, Pair

Located in Miami, FL

Vintage Memphis Milano Cassini Style Tall Ladder Back Chairs, Pair Offered for sale is a pair of

Category

Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Black Legs Dining Chair Vértigo
Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Black Legs Dining Chair Vértigo

Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Black Legs Dining Chair Vértigo

By Moanne

Located in Almería, ES

The Vértigo Dining Chair captures the tension between chaos and control. With its sharp silhouette

Category

2010s Spanish Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Velvet, Wood, Lacquer

Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Blue Legs Dining Chair Vértigo
Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Blue Legs Dining Chair Vértigo

Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Blue Legs Dining Chair Vértigo

By Moanne

Located in Almería, ES

The Vértigo Dining Chair captures the tension between chaos and control. With its sharp silhouette

Category

2010s Spanish Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Velvet, Wood, Lacquer

Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Red Legs Dining Chair Vértigo
Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Red Legs Dining Chair Vértigo

Memphis Sculptural in Pink Velvet & Red Legs Dining Chair Vértigo

By Moanne

Located in Almería, ES

The Vértigo Dining Chair captures the tension between chaos and control. With its sharp silhouette

Category

2010s Spanish Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Velvet, Wood, Lacquer

Post modern Memphis style artistic writing desk and chair, Germany 1980s
Post modern Memphis style artistic writing desk and chair, Germany 1980s

Post modern Memphis style artistic writing desk and chair, Germany 1980s

By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group, Gaetano Pesce

Located in ECHT, NL

Unique artistic writing desk and chair. The frame is made from steel and wrought iron in different

Category

Late 20th Century German Post-Modern Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Metal

Memphis Style Lacquered Iron Black Leatherette Four Chairs Set, Italy, 1980
Memphis Style Lacquered Iron Black Leatherette Four Chairs Set, Italy, 1980

Memphis Style Lacquered Iron Black Leatherette Four Chairs Set, Italy, 1980

By Philippe Starck

Located in Madrid, ES

Set of four contemporary chairs attributed to Philip Stark. The chairs are composed of a black

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chairs

Materials

Iron

Bone Air Chair by Memphis Milano Designer Peter Shire
Bone Air Chair by Memphis Milano Designer Peter Shire

Bone Air Chair by Memphis Milano Designer Peter Shire

By Peter Shire

Located in Kansas City, MO

Peter Shire bone chair designed and made in the Studio of Peter Shire, 1983. Only two of these

Category

Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Laminate, Wood

Set of 4 Sottsass Inspired Memphis Style Dining Chairs
Set of 4 Sottsass Inspired Memphis Style Dining Chairs

Set of 4 Sottsass Inspired Memphis Style Dining Chairs

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Los Angeles, CA

influenced by the bold aesthetic of Ettore Sottsass and the Memphis Group. Designed in the 1980s, the chairs

Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

Chair First by Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Milano, Italy, 1981
Chair First by Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Milano, Italy, 1981

Chair First by Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Milano, Italy, 1981

By Michele de Lucchi

Located in DE KWAKEL, NL

An iconic First chair designed in 1981 by Michele De Lucchi for Memphis Milano. This celebrated

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Side Chairs

Materials

Metal

Pair of Steel Italian Memphis Architectural Chairs Attributed to Mario Botta
Pair of Steel Italian Memphis Architectural Chairs Attributed to Mario Botta

Pair of Steel Italian Memphis Architectural Chairs Attributed to Mario Botta

By Mario Botta

Located in Chicago, IL

Pair of steel Italian Memphis architectural chairs attributed to Mario Botta. Extreme design with

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Steel

Les Amisco Memphis Ellipse Metal and Black Leather Rocking Chair
Les Amisco Memphis Ellipse Metal and Black Leather Rocking Chair

Les Amisco Memphis Ellipse Metal and Black Leather Rocking Chair

By Les Industries Amisco

Located in Basel, BS

Fantastic, and very Rare MCM Post-Modern, Memphis style rocker made in Canada by Les Amisco in the

Category

Vintage 1980s Canadian Post-Modern Rocking Chairs

Materials

Metal

1980s Italy Post-Modern Salmistraro Augusto Mandelli Walter Selva
1980s Italy Post-Modern Salmistraro Augusto Mandelli Walter Selva

1980s Italy Post-Modern Salmistraro Augusto Mandelli Walter Selva

Located in Boven Leeuwen, NL

Rare Post-modern Memphis style chair designed by Augusto Mandelli and Walter Selva for Salmistraro

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Wingback Chairs

Materials

Leather, Velvet

1980s Ettore Sottsass Inspired Memphis Style Black Wood Frame Rocking Chair
1980s Ettore Sottsass Inspired Memphis Style Black Wood Frame Rocking Chair

1980s Ettore Sottsass Inspired Memphis Style Black Wood Frame Rocking Chair

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Fun Ettore Sottsass inspired Memphis style rocking chair with bent, black ebonized wood frame. This

Category

Vintage 1980s Dutch Post-Modern Rocking Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Wood

5 Postmodern Memphis Milano Style Chairs from the 1980s
5 Postmodern Memphis Milano Style Chairs from the 1980s

5 Postmodern Memphis Milano Style Chairs from the 1980s

Located in Boven Leeuwen, NL

5 Memphis Milano style chairs, newly upholstered with a beautiful blue-green color fabric. Black

Category

Vintage 1980s European Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

Memphis Design Postmodern Geometrical Stackable Dining Chairs by KFF 80s Germany
Memphis Design Postmodern Geometrical Stackable Dining Chairs by KFF 80s Germany

Memphis Design Postmodern Geometrical Stackable Dining Chairs by KFF 80s Germany

By KFF, Karl Friedrich Förster

Located in Zagreb, HR

One of seven steel and plywood postmodern chairs designed in the 1980s in Germany by Karl Friedrich

Category

Vintage 1980s German Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

KFF Trix Memphis set of two dining chairs by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988
KFF Trix Memphis set of two dining chairs by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988

KFF Trix Memphis set of two dining chairs by Karl Friedrich Förster, 1988

By KFF, Karl Friedrich Förster

Located in Ludwigslust, DE

classic chairs. The chairs are all characterized by typical KFF features and a connection to the Memphis

Category

Vintage 1980s German Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

Set of 4 Memphis Style Postmodern Dining Chairs in Purple and Yellow
Set of 4 Memphis Style Postmodern Dining Chairs in Purple and Yellow

Set of 4 Memphis Style Postmodern Dining Chairs in Purple and Yellow

Located in Zagreb, HR

Set of four vibrant postmodern vintage dining chairs with high backrests upholstered in purple

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

Set of Four Memphis Wooden Curved Back Dining Chairs with Warm Gray Seats
Set of Four Memphis Wooden Curved Back Dining Chairs with Warm Gray Seats

Set of Four Memphis Wooden Curved Back Dining Chairs with Warm Gray Seats

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Set of 4 Ettore Sottsass inspired Memphis style wood dining chairs with curved back rests and warm

Category

Vintage 1980s German Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Wood

Set of 4 Postmodern Memphis Era Thonet Vienna Stackable Dining Chairs, 90s
Set of 4 Postmodern Memphis Era Thonet Vienna Stackable Dining Chairs, 90s

Set of 4 Postmodern Memphis Era Thonet Vienna Stackable Dining Chairs, 90s

By Thonet

Located in Zagreb, HR

Set of four exceptionally rare and collectible, postmodern Memphis design original Thonet dining

Category

1990s Austrian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Metal

Set of Six Memphis Tripod Dining Chairs in the Manner of Michele De Lucchi
Set of Six Memphis Tripod Dining Chairs in the Manner of Michele De Lucchi

Set of Six Memphis Tripod Dining Chairs in the Manner of Michele De Lucchi

By Michele de Lucchi

Located in Palm Springs, CA

A set of six Memphis dining chairs in the manner of Michele de Lucchi. The steel frame is powder

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Steel

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Memphis Post Modern Chair For Sale on 1stDibs

At 1stDibs, there are many versions of the ideal memphis post modern chair for your home. Frequently made of metal, wood and fabric, every memphis post modern chair was constructed with great care. Find 78 options for an antique or vintage memphis post modern chair now, or shop our selection of 1 modern versions for a more contemporary example of this long-cherished piece. Whether you’re looking for an older or newer memphis post modern chair, there are earlier versions available from the 19th Century and newer variations made as recently as the 21st Century. When you’re browsing for the right memphis post modern chair, those designed in Post-Modern and Mid-Century Modern styles are of considerable interest. You’ll likely find more than one memphis post modern chair that is appealing in its simplicity, but Michele de Lucchi, Memphis Group and Memphis Milano produced versions that are worth a look.

How Much is a Memphis Post Modern Chair?

Prices for a memphis post modern chair start at $255 and top out at $21,000 with the average selling for $2,695.

A Close Look at Post-modern Furniture

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

  • Emerges during the 1960s; popularity explodes during the ’80s
  • A reaction to prevailing conventions of modernism by mainly American architects
  • Architect Robert Venturi critiques modern architecture in his Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966)
  • Theorist Charles Jencks, who championed architecture filled with allusions and cultural references, writes The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977)
  • Italian design collective the Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, meets for the first time (1980) 
  • Memphis collective debuts more than 50 objects and furnishings at Salone del Milano (1981)
  • Interest in style declines, minimalism gains steam

CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Dizzying graphic patterns and an emphasis on loud, off-the-wall colors
  • Use of plastic and laminates, glass, metal and marble; lacquered and painted wood 
  • Unconventional proportions and abundant ornamentation
  • Playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art

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 Mendinia 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.

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.