Modern Boxes
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Suede, Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Boxes
Horn, Wood
20th Century French Modern Boxes
Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Boxes
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
Late 20th Century Modern Boxes
Malachite, Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Ebony
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Boxes
Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Boxes
Brass, Bronze
1980s American Vintage Modern Boxes
Stone, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Suede, Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Wood
Late 20th Century French Modern Boxes
Paper, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Boxes
Brass, Bronze
1970s French Vintage Modern Boxes
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Malachite, Brass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Boxes
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
1990s Italian Modern Boxes
Leather, Fabric
Late 20th Century Modern Boxes
Stone, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Wood
2010s Belgian Modern Boxes
Cherry, Padouk, Zebra Wood
1970s French Vintage Modern Boxes
Stone, Quartz, Metal, Silver Plate
Late 20th Century American Modern Boxes
Glass, Teak, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Boxes
Brass
1980s Austrian Vintage Modern Boxes
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold Plate
2010s Mexican Modern Boxes
Marble
2010s Unknown Modern Boxes
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Boxes
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Irish Modern Boxes
Walnut, Burl
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Suede, Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Gold Plate
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold, Gold Plate
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Cedar, Ebony
1980s American Vintage Modern Boxes
Rosewood
Late 20th Century Asian Modern Boxes
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Steel
Early 20th Century Belgian Modern Boxes
Marble, Onyx, Brass
Early 2000s Irish Modern Boxes
Mahogany, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Birdseye Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Marble
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Lucite, Plexiglass, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Boxes
Brass
2010s Turkish Modern Boxes
Chestnut
1970s American Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
1960s English Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Boxes
Brass
20th Century French Modern Boxes
Malachite, Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver