Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage 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. The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field.
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 chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass, Chrome
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Steel
1970s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Teak
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Teak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Lacquer, Wood
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Rattan, Glass, Wood
1970s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Oak
1960s Spanish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Oak
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Teak
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Rosewood
1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Maple, Burl
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass, Nickel
1960s Central American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
1960s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
1950s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Teak
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Oak
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
Late 20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Wood
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Teak
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Metal
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Oak
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Glass, Mirror, Maple, Walnut
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1960s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Iron
1960s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Oak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass, Steel
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Glass, Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Marble, Brass
1970s Canadian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Oak, Rosewood
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Leather
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Formica
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1960s Norwegian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Teak
1940s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Rosewood, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Mirror, Oak
1950s Swiss Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Seagrass, Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Marble