Modern Candlesticks
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Italian Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s European Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
1980s American Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Coral, Bronze
20th Century Italian Modern Candlesticks
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Candlesticks
Rock Crystal, Bronze
2010s Indonesian Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s Indonesian Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
20th Century French Modern Candlesticks
Quartz, Rock Crystal, Gold, Brass
20th Century French Modern Candlesticks
Rock Crystal, Gold Plate, Bronze
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Candlesticks
Brass, Bronze, Copper
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Candlesticks
Crystal, Gold Leaf
Mid-19th Century French Antique Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s American Modern Candlesticks
Brass
1960s Mexican Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Art Glass
2010s Italian Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
Late 20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Crystal
20th Century European Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s Modern Candlesticks
Aluminum
Late 20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Candlesticks
Nickel
20th Century French Modern Candlesticks
Quartz, Rock Crystal, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Candlesticks
Brass
1990s American Modern Candlesticks
Brass
1960s English Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s European Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s European Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s European Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
1990s American Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
2010s Indonesian Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
Mid-20th Century English Modern Candlesticks
Porcelain
1990s French Modern Candlesticks
Bronze
20th Century French Modern Candlesticks
Rock Crystal, Gold, Bronze