Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
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 American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Pine
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Concrete
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Iron
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
1950s Swiss Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Cement
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Aluminum
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Brass
2010s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal, Iron
Late 20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Cement
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
1960s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Willow
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Cast Stone, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Aluminum
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Linen, Bamboo, Cane
Early 20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Beech
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Bamboo
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Bamboo
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Steel, Iron, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fiberglass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fiberglass, Fabric
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Plastic
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fabric, Glass, Fiberglass, Foam
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Travertine, Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wicker
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Iron
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Iron
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Stainless Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Composition
1970s North American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Concrete
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Stone, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Iron
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Resin