Mid-Century American Collection
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 pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, the mid-century modern American period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Walnut
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Brass
1940s American Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Travertine
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Metal
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Metal
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Brass
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Mahogany
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Mahogany
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Steel, Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Steel
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Walnut
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Carrara Marble, Metal
1950s North American Chinoiserie Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Mahogany
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Mid-Century American Collection
Glass, Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Metal
1970s American Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Travertine
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Mid-Century American Collection
Metal
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid-Century American Collection
Brass, Chrome
Read More
The Ultimate Guide to Types of Tables for the Home
Whether you’re just moving in or ready to give your home a makeover, our guide will give you pointers on tables that are fitting for every room, nook and hallway.
What Exactly Is a Secretary Desk, and What Is It Used For?
The furniture equivalent of a Swiss Army knife, it's the multifunctional piece you didn't know you needed.
This Shelving System with Oxidized Brass Tubes Is Retro and Futuristic at Once
Italian studio DimoreMilano mustered great ingenuity when crafting these sculptural shelves, which are built without any screws.
28 Cheerful Home Bars, Where Everybody (Literally) Knows Your Name
Simple or sophisticated, equipped with console, cart or custom cabinetry, these stylish bar areas deserve a toast.
Ask an Interior Designer: Work-from-Home Edition
Leaping into a design project, whether it's refreshing the bedroom or redoing the whole house, can be overwhelming. Luckily, we know more than a few interior designers. You asked questions on Instagram, and now they're answering.
Collected and Eclectic, ‘Wunderkammern’ Are Back in a Big Way
Introduced nearly 500 years ago, curiosity cabinets are finding new fans among today's collectors and designers.
Meet the Incredible Woman Transforming Fallen Trees into Sleek Furniture
In the hands of New York Heartwoods cofounder Megan Offner, unwanted local trees become works of design art.
These New York Architects Love a Complicated Project
From Brooklyn townhouses to Maine campgrounds, Trattie Davies and Jonathan Toews relish a challenge, like transforming a former warehouse space into the new 1stdibs Gallery.