Weltron 2001 Radio
Mid-20th Century American Modern Desk Sets
Chrome
20th Century American Musical Instruments
Plastic
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century North American Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Chrome
Mid-20th Century North American Musical Instruments
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Modern More Desk Accessories
Plastic
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21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Brass
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Hardwood
2010s Oceanic Organic Modern Ottomans and Poufs
Fabric, Foam
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Musical Instruments
Acrylic
Late 20th Century German Industrial Musical Instruments
Metal, Aluminum
Vintage 1950s Stools
Rattan
Vintage 1970s American Space Age Table Lamps
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1950s Carriage Clocks and Travel Clocks
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Belgian Desks
Polyester
Vintage 1980s Wall Clocks
Plastic
Vintage 1970s Japanese Space Age Musical Instruments
Plastic
Vintage 1970s Italian Hollywood Regency Ashtrays
Metal
Late 20th Century Dutch Space Age Carts and Bar Carts
Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Space Age Daybeds
Fiberglass
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Fiberglass, Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Canadian Musical Instruments
Aluminum, Steel
Materials: Plastic Furniture
Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous man-made material, plastic has impacted nearly every industry. In contemporary spaces, new and vintage plastic furniture is quite popular and its use pairs well with a range of design styles.
From the Italian lighting artisans at Fontana Arte to venturesome Scandinavian modernists such as Verner Panton, who created groundbreaking interiors as much as he did seating — see his revolutionary Panton chair — to contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Faye Toogood, furniture designers have been pushing the boundaries of plastic forever.
When The Graduate's Mr. McGuire proclaimed, “There’s a great future in plastics,” it was more than a laugh line. The iconic quote is an allusion both to society’s reliance on and its love affair with plastic. Before the material became an integral part of our lives — used in everything from clothing to storage to beauty and beyond — people relied on earthly elements for manufacturing, a process as time-consuming as it was costly.
Soon after American inventor John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which could mimic luxury products like tortoiseshell and ivory, production hit fever pitch, and the floodgates opened for others to explore plastic’s full potential. The material altered the history of design — mid-century modern legends Charles and Ray Eames, Joe Colombo and Eero Saarinen regularly experimented with plastics in the development of tables and chairs, and today plastic furnishings and decorative objects are seen as often indoors as they are outside.
Find vintage plastic lounge chairs, outdoor furniture, lighting and more on 1stDibs.