Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
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 collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Pottery
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Art Glass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Pottery
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Terracotta
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Pottery
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Rope
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Murano Glass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Cast Stone
1990s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso, Opaline Glass, Glass
20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Leather
1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Marble, Bronze
1960s Unknown Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso, Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso, Glass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Copper
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Murano Glass
1970s Mexican Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Copper, Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass, Copper, Iron
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Porcelain
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
Late 20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
Late 20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
1960s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Pottery
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Pottery
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
1950s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Sommerso, Uranium Glass, Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Cedar
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Murano Glass
1990s Polish Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Porcelain
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Brass
1970s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Elm
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Uranium Glass, Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso
1950s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Marble
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Silver Plate
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Marble, Brass