Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Art Nouveau was a modernizing movement in the decorative arts that developed in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States. In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, Art Nouveau furniture, jewelry and graphic design reflected a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era.
Art Nouveau can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. The signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames. The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. The style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants.
In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bed frames and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers. The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.
Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass. Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).
Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.
There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.
Late 19th Century English Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Blown Glass
20th Century German Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Ceramic
1890s French Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Ceramic
1910s German Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1910s English Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Gold, Enamel
Late 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Art Glass
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
Early 1900s English Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s European Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Art Glass
20th Century French Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Crystal
1920s French Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Glass
1960s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Pewter
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver, Sterling Silver
1920s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Art Glass
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Glass
20th Century French Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Art Glass
Early 1900s American Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver, Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
Late 19th Century French Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Art Glass
Late 19th Century French Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Metal, Silver Plate
1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Brass
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Sterling Silver
Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Brass
Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Pottery
Early 20th Century German Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Ceramic
Late 19th Century Czech Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Majolica
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Sterling Silver
1930s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Sterling Silver
1890s American Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Sterling Silver
1920s English Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
1920s German Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s Northern Irish Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
Early 1900s Danish Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Gold Plate, Silver
20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1910s German Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1920s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
Late 20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1970s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1910s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s English Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Sterling Silver
1920s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1890s Danish Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s Danish Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1920s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
Early 1900s German Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Silver
Late 19th Century Danish Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1970s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1930s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1960s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
Early 1900s French Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Glass
Mid-20th Century Danish Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain
1890s Danish Antique Art Nouveau Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass
Porcelain