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Dune Coffee Table in Pietra Lavica Nera & Travertine Romana by Verena Brausch
Dune Coffee Table in Pietra Lavica Nera & Travertine Romana by Verena Brausch

Dune Coffee Table in Pietra Lavica Nera & Travertine Romana by Verena Brausch

Located in Geneve, CH

Dune Coffee Table in Pietra Lavica Nera & Travertine Romana by Verena Brausch Limited Edition of 12

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Travertine

Mod Travertine Up & Up Coffee Table Made in Italy c. 1970's
Mod Travertine Up & Up Coffee Table Made in Italy c. 1970's

Mod Travertine Up & Up Coffee Table Made in Italy c. 1970's

By Up & Up

Located in New York, NY

Voguish 1970's marble coffee table made in Italy by Up & Up. The table consists of two opposing

Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

X Shape Light Travertine Coffee Table with Round Clear Glass by RAFFINATO
X Shape Light Travertine Coffee Table with Round Clear Glass by RAFFINATO

X Shape Light Travertine Coffee Table with Round Clear Glass by RAFFINATO

Located in Geneve, CH

Ourea Light Travertine Coffee Table by RAFFINATO Dimensions: D 120 x 120 x H 38 cm. Materials

Category

2010s Turkish Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Square Stone Coffee Table with Ball Sphere Base in Cream Portuguese Travertine
Square Stone Coffee Table with Ball Sphere Base in Cream Portuguese Travertine

Square Stone Coffee Table with Ball Sphere Base in Cream Portuguese Travertine

Located in Amsterdam, Holland

Square stone coffee table with ball sphere base in cream Portuguese Travertine A sculptural four

Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Limestone, Travertine, Marble

Titanium Travertine Coffee Table with Round Top by Lebanto
Titanium Travertine Coffee Table with Round Top by Lebanto

Titanium Travertine Coffee Table with Round Top by Lebanto

Located in Geneve, CH

Titanium Travertine Hashi Coffee Table by Lebanto Dimensions: W 60 x D 60 x H 29 cm Materials

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

2-Piece Up & Up Triangular Nesting Staggered Coffee Tables in Travertine Stone
2-Piece Up & Up Triangular Nesting Staggered Coffee Tables in Travertine Stone

2-Piece Up & Up Triangular Nesting Staggered Coffee Tables in Travertine Stone

By Stone International, Up & Up

Located in Philadelphia, PA

in the 1980s. The staggered heights of these tables allows for many interesting and dynamic

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Travertine, Marble

Coffee Table by Piero De Longhi Catalan Italia Travertine Glass and Brass 1980s
Coffee Table by Piero De Longhi Catalan Italia Travertine Glass and Brass 1980s

Coffee Table by Piero De Longhi Catalan Italia Travertine Glass and Brass 1980s

By Piero de Longhi

Located in London, GB

The Dielle coffee table, is a timeless piece designed in 1984 by Piero De Longhi for Catalan Italia

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Metal, Brass

Titanium Travertine and Smoked Oak Tinian Coffee Table by Lebanto
Titanium Travertine and Smoked Oak Tinian Coffee Table by Lebanto

Titanium Travertine and Smoked Oak Tinian Coffee Table by Lebanto

Located in Geneve, CH

Titanium Travertine and Smoked Oak Tinian Coffee Table by Lebanto Dimensions: W 60 x D 60 x H 31 cm

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

Lion in Frost Travertine Marble & Glass Swivel Top Coffee Cocktail Table
Lion in Frost Travertine Marble & Glass Swivel Top Coffee Cocktail Table

Lion in Frost Travertine Marble & Glass Swivel Top Coffee Cocktail Table

By Lion in Frost

Located in Lake Worth, FL

Estate Fine Furniture Acquisitions Of A 1970's Mid-Century Modern Travertine Marble & Glass Coffee

Category

Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Chrome

Light Beige Travertine Hashi Coffee Table with Round Top by Lebanto
Light Beige Travertine Hashi Coffee Table with Round Top by Lebanto

Light Beige Travertine Hashi Coffee Table with Round Top by Lebanto

Located in Geneve, CH

Roman Travertine Hashi Coffee Table by Lebanto Dimensions: W 60 x D 60 x H 29 cm Materials: Marble

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

Roman Light Gold Travertine and Natural Oak Coffee Table by Lebanto
Roman Light Gold Travertine and Natural Oak Coffee Table by Lebanto

Roman Light Gold Travertine and Natural Oak Coffee Table by Lebanto

Located in Geneve, CH

Roman Travertine and Oak Tinian Coffee Table by Lebanto Dimensions: W 60 x D 60 x H 31 cm Materials

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Marble

Post-Modern Travertine Cube Side Tables
Post-Modern Travertine Cube Side Tables

Post-Modern Travertine Cube Side Tables

Located in Miami, FL

, neutral and versatile. Use as side tables, end tables or side by side as a small coffee table. They

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Side Tables

Materials

Stone, Travertine

Maitland Smith Postmodern Tessellated Stone Inlaid Travertine and Marble Coffee
Maitland Smith Postmodern Tessellated Stone Inlaid Travertine and Marble Coffee

Maitland Smith Postmodern Tessellated Stone Inlaid Travertine and Marble Coffee

By Maitland Smith

Located in Madison, WI

, marble and glass topped table would look great in a Modern, Mid-Century, Miami Regency or Hollywood

Category

Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Travertine

Saturnia Coffee Table by Somaschini
Saturnia Coffee Table by Somaschini

Saturnia Coffee Table by Somaschini

Located in Geneve, CH

Travertine element. Transparent glass top. Coffee table in N.131 Bronze-burnished copper pure metal finish

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Copper

1970s Post-Modern Tessellated Stone Side Table with Glass Top
1970s Post-Modern Tessellated Stone Side Table with Glass Top

1970s Post-Modern Tessellated Stone Side Table with Glass Top

By Maitland Smith

Located in Chattanooga, TN

Travertine and tessellated stone coffee tables, end tables, sofa tables, mirror and credenza. Inquire if you

Category

Vintage 1970s Philippine Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone, Brass

Sculptural Post-Modern Kotor Coffee Table in Travertine by Mavo Atelier Handmade
Sculptural Post-Modern Kotor Coffee Table in Travertine by Mavo Atelier Handmade

Sculptural Post-Modern Kotor Coffee Table in Travertine by Mavo Atelier Handmade

By Mavo Atelier

Located in Trofa, PT

The Kotor Coffee Table expresses architectural depth, layered materiality, and structural clarity

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Post-Modern Center Tables

Materials

Travertine, Brass

Simone Coffee Table by Studio Gaia Paris
Simone Coffee Table by Studio Gaia Paris

Simone Coffee Table by Studio Gaia Paris

Located in Geneve, CH

Travertine. The Simone coffee table, in onyx and travertine, features two types of natural stones known for

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Onyx, Travertine

Object 068 Coffee Table by NG Design
Object 068 Coffee Table by NG Design

Object 068 Coffee Table by NG Design

Located in Geneve, CH

Object 068 coffee table by NG Design Dimensions: D70 x H35 cm Materials: Travertine Also Available

Category

2010s Polish Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Lena Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud
Lena Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Lena Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Located in Geneve, CH

Lena Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud Dimensions: D 58 x H 29 cm. Materials: Top in Osso travertine

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Gaia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud
Gaia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Gaia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Located in Geneve, CH

Gaia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud Dimensions: D 78 x H 34 cm. Materials: Top in Osso travertine

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Alba Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud
Alba Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Alba Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Located in Geneve, CH

Alba Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud Dimensions: D 98 x H 39 cm. Materials: Top in Osso travertine

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Mistral Coffee Table by Studio Bazazo
Mistral Coffee Table by Studio Bazazo

Mistral Coffee Table by Studio Bazazo

Located in Geneve, CH

Mistral Coffee Table by Studio Bazazo Dimensions: D 70 x W 160 x H 35 cm. Materials: Travertino

Category

2010s Lebanese Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Stainless Steel

Giulia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud
Giulia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Giulia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud

Located in Geneve, CH

Giulia Coffee Table by Le Berre Vevaud Dimensions: D 98 x H 39 cm. Materials: Plateau travertin

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Pair of 1970's Italian Traventine Coffee/Side Tables
Pair of 1970's Italian Traventine Coffee/Side Tables

Pair of 1970's Italian Traventine Coffee/Side Tables

Located in Bern, CH

Pair of identical 1970’s Travertine Coffee / Side Tables. Marked beneath tabletop: 'Made in Italy

Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Luca Coffee Table Large by Umberto Bellardi Ricci
Luca Coffee Table Large by Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Luca Coffee Table Large by Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Located in Geneve, CH

Luca coffee table large by Umberto Bellardi Ricci Dimensions: D 55” x W 34” x H 13.5 in Materials

Category

2010s American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Bronze

Luca Coffee Table Small by Umberto Bellardi Ricci
Luca Coffee Table Small by Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Luca Coffee Table Small by Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Located in Geneve, CH

Luca coffee table small by Umberto Bellardi Ricci Dimensions: W 71.1 x D 109.24 x H 22.9 cm

Category

2010s American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Bronze

Contemporary Coffee Table in iron with Brutalist vibe by Riccardo Sgattoni
Contemporary Coffee Table in iron with Brutalist vibe by Riccardo Sgattoni

Contemporary Coffee Table in iron with Brutalist vibe by Riccardo Sgattoni

Located in Beograd, RS

In this listing you will find a very rare and very sculptural contemporary coffee table with a

Category

Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Brass

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Lovely Postmodern 1980s design, coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte. The base of this cute

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Set of 3 Alba Gaia Lena Coffee Tables by Le Berre Vevaud
Set of 3 Alba Gaia Lena Coffee Tables by Le Berre Vevaud

Set of 3 Alba Gaia Lena Coffee Tables by Le Berre Vevaud

Located in Geneve, CH

Set of 3 Alba Gaia Lena Coffee Tables by Le Berre Vevaud Dimensions: D 98 x H 39 cm. Materials: Top

Category

2010s French Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Lovely Postmodern 1980s design, coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte. The base of this cute

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone Coffee or Fossil Stone Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Lovely Postmodern 1980s design, coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte. The base of this cute

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Very rare coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte, 1980's. The stunning table base is made of

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Rare and very nice oval coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte, 1980's. This stunning table is

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Rare and very nice coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte, 1980's. This stunning table is made of

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Rare and very nice coffee table by Magnussen Ponte, 1980s. This stunning table is made of Mactan

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Large Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Large Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Large Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Large Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: W 140 x D 80 x H 30 cm (Marble Tray Included ⌀ 52 cm

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Small Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Small Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Small Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Small Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 50 x H 50 cm (Marble Tray Included ⌀ 42 cm

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Medium Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Medium Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Medium Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Medium Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 60 x H 41 cm (Marble Tray Included ⌀ 52 cm

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Very nice coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte, 1980's. The stunning table base is made of

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s
Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Magnussen Ponte Mactan Stone or Fossil Stone Coffee Table, 1980s

Located in Oud Beijerland, NL

Very nice coffee or side table by Magnussen Ponte, 1980's. This stunning table is made of rough

Category

Vintage 1980s Unknown Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine

Demetra Coffee Table in Travertino Navona, Horn & Satin Metal in by Arcahorn
Demetra Coffee Table in Travertino Navona, Horn & Satin Metal in by Arcahorn

Demetra Coffee Table in Travertino Navona, Horn & Satin Metal in by Arcahorn

Located in Geneve, CH

Demetra Coffee Table in Travertino Navona, Horn & Satin Metal by Arcahorn Dimensions: D 120 x W 160

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Metal, Other

Set of 2 Andrea and Luca Coffee Table by Umberto Bellardi Ricci
Set of 2 Andrea and Luca Coffee Table by Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Set of 2 Andrea and Luca Coffee Table by Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Located in Geneve, CH

Set of 2 Andrea and Luca coffee table by Umberto Bellardi Ricci Dimensions: Andrea: D 94 x W 71 x H

Category

2010s American Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Travertine, Bronze

Object 038 Coffee Table by NG Design
Object 038 Coffee Table by NG Design

Object 038 Coffee Table by NG Design

Located in Geneve, CH

Object 038 coffee table by NG Design Dimensions: D90 x W54 x H34 cm Materials: Powder coated

Category

2010s Polish Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

Medium Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Medium Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Medium Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Medium Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 60 x H 41 cm (Marble Tray Included

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Small Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Small Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Small Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Small Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 50 x H 50 cm (Marble Tray Included ⌀ 42

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Medium Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Medium Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Medium Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Medium Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 60 x H 41 cm (Marble Tray Included

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Medium Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Medium Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Medium Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Medium Alpi Gray Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 60 x H 41 cm (Marble Tray Included ⌀ 52

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Small Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Small Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Small Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Small Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 50 x H 50 cm (Marble Tray Included

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Small Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Small Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Small Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Small Carrara White Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 50 x H 50 cm (Marble Tray Included

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Medium Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Medium Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Medium Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Medium Forest Green Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 60 x H 41 cm (Marble Tray Included

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

Small Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern
Small Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Small Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern

Located in Geneve, CH

Small Crema Marfil Bold Coffee Table by Mohdern Dimensions: ⌀ 50 x H 50 cm (Marble Tray Included

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Ash

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Travertine Post Modern Coffee Table For Sale on 1stDibs

With a vast inventory of beautiful furniture at 1stDibs, we’ve got just the travertine post modern coffee table you’re looking for. Each travertine post modern coffee table for sale was constructed with extraordinary care, often using stone, limestone and travertine. Your living room may not be complete without a travertine post modern coffee table — find older editions for sale from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 20th Century. Each travertine post modern coffee table bearing hallmarks is very popular. You’ll likely find more than one travertine post modern coffee table that is appealing in its simplicity, but Angelo Mangiarotti, Up & Up and Gae Aulenti produced versions that are worth a look.

How Much is a Travertine Post Modern Coffee Table?

Prices for a travertine post modern coffee table can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — at 1stDibs, they begin at $1,485 and can go as high as $6,800, while the average can fetch as much as $4,100.

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 Coffee-tables-cocktail-tables for You

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.