Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale, in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century designers caught the spirit.
Classically-oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb — who designed holistic groups of sleek, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal, Copper
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Acrylic, Lucite
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal, Aluminum
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Horn, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1940s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1980s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Abalone
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1990s Chinese Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Leather, Wood
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Wood
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
Mid-20th Century Canadian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
20th Century Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Bentwood
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1940s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Sheet Metal
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Wood, Teak, Plywood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Mirror
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Leather
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Brass