Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
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.
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal, Brass
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Wood
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Horn, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Travertine
Mid-20th Century Polish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Crystal
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Padouk
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic, Pottery
1970s Philippine Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Stone, Brass
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Lucite
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Rosewood, Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Horn, Shell, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Lucite
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Lucite
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Abalone
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal
2010s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Bronze
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Alabaster
Mid-20th Century Chinese Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Pottery
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal, Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Leather
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Gold Leaf
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Alabaster, Marble, Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Crystal
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
1960s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
1940s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Enamel
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Silver
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Hardwood
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Indian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Cane, Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Mahogany, Lacquer
20th Century African Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
1940s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Bronze
1960s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Shagreen, Mother-of-Pearl
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Opaline Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
1940s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Bronze
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal, Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Silver Plate