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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century Modern Candlesticks
Glass
Mid-20th Century German Modern Candlesticks
Iron
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Iron
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Cut Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Candlesticks
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
1930s Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Candlesticks
Iron
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Silver
1940s Danish Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Pewter
1960s Unknown Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Modern Candlesticks
Lucite
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Glass
Mid-20th Century French Modern Candlesticks
Glass
1950s European Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Brass
Mid-20th Century English Modern Candlesticks
Cement, Sterling Silver
1990s Modern Candlesticks
Metal, Silver, Silver Plate, Sterling Silver, Sheet Metal, Silver Leaf
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Modern Candlesticks
Crystal
Late 19th Century Antique Modern Candlesticks
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Metal
1980s French Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Candlesticks
Stainless Steel
1970s Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Candlesticks
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Glass
1930s American Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Brass
Mid-20th Century Belgian Modern Candlesticks
Crystal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Glass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Iron
1960s German Vintage Modern Candlesticks
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century American Modern Candlesticks
Brass, Iron
Mid-20th Century Finnish Modern Candlesticks
Glass
Mid-20th Century French Modern Candlesticks
Ceramic