Modern Letter Openers
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Letter Openers
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate, Brass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Letter Openers
Crystal, Brass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Letter Openers
Crystal, Brass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Letter Openers
Crystal, Brass
1960s French Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Letter Openers
Stainless Steel
20th Century Modern Letter Openers
Silver
1950s French Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Steel
1980s British Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Sterling Silver
1970s French Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver
20th Century North American Modern Letter Openers
Steel
1980s English Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Letter Openers
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Letter Openers
Leather
20th Century European Modern Letter Openers
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate
20th Century Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Plastic
1990s Italian Modern Letter Openers
Sterling Silver
15th Century and Earlier Malagasy Antique Modern Letter Openers
Stone
20th Century Swedish Modern Letter Openers
Stainless Steel, Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century American Modern Letter Openers
Sterling Silver
2010s Austrian Modern Letter Openers
Brass
Mid-20th Century Modern Letter Openers
Brass
Early 20th Century French Modern Letter Openers
Brass
Mid-20th Century Modern Letter Openers
Brass
Early 20th Century American Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate
Late 19th Century American Antique Modern Letter Openers
Glass, Walnut
20th Century Italian Modern Letter Openers
Silver, Sterling Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver, Sterling Silver
Early 2000s French Modern Letter Openers
Stainless Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Letter Openers
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Silver
1950s Austrian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Horn
1990s Danish Modern Letter Openers
Silver
1950s Austrian Vintage Modern Letter Openers
Horn