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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Boxes
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Gold, Brass
20th Century French Modern Boxes
Velvet, Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century Spanish Modern Boxes
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Leather, Wood
2010s Modern Boxes
Copper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Brass, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Boxes
Bone
1980s North American Vintage Modern Boxes
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Boxes
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Boxes
Coral
20th Century European Modern Boxes
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Boxes
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Boxes
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Brass
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Boxes
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Marble
1980s British Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Philippine Modern Boxes
Bone, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Boxes
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Brass, Gold Leaf, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Ebony
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Boxes
Bone, Palmwood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Boxes
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
2010s Argentine Modern Boxes
Wood
2010s Belgian Modern Boxes
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Boxes
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
1990s Japanese Modern Boxes
Silver
2010s Australian Modern Boxes
Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Marble, Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Wood
1990s French Modern Boxes
Shagreen, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Boxes
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Crystal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Boxes
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Birdseye Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Glass, Cedar
1960s British Vintage Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Boxes
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
Late 20th Century American Modern Boxes
Wood, Macassar
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Boxes
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Boxes
Sterling Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Boxes
Marble