Mid-Century Modern 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 American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal, Chrome
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Alabaster
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Horn, Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Padouk
1970s Philippine Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Stone, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal, Brass
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Gold Leaf
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Alabaster, Marble, Metal
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Rosewood, Ceramic
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Rosewood
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Rosewood
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Crystal, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Polish Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Abalone
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Lucite
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Ceramic
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Aluminum
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal, Silver Plate
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Lucite
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
2010s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1940s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Enamel
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Crystal
2010s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Bronze
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Mahogany, Maple
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Bamboo, Wood
Mid-20th Century Chinese Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Pottery
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Crystal, Silver
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal
1970s Unknown Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Metal, Aluminum, Copper, Enamel
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Alabaster
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Gold Leaf
1960s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Glass, Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Brass
1960s Mexican Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Jacaranda, Rosewood, Cocobolo
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Onyx, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Bronze
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Murano Glass, Art Glass
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Opaline Glass
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Boxes
Enamel