Modern More Desk Accessories
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s French Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Marble, Bronze
1960s Czech Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Silver
1960s German Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Rubber, Rosewood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Silver Plate
1960s French Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Bronze
1960s American Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Composition, Marble
Mid-20th Century Asian Modern More Desk Accessories
Mohair
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern More Desk Accessories
Leather
Late 20th Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Acrylic, Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Desk Accessories
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Desk Accessories
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern More Desk Accessories
Precious Stone
Mid-20th Century Modern More Desk Accessories
Plaster
1890s French Antique Modern More Desk Accessories
Crystal, Ormolu
1950s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Desk Accessories
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern More Desk Accessories
Stone, Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Desk Accessories
Precious Stone
1960s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Porcelain
1960s German Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Marble, Brass
1960s German Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Gold Plate
1960s European Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Gold
1960s Austrian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Silver, Bronze
1960s French Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Silver Plate
1960s American Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Sterling Silver
1960s French Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Lucite
1960s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Ceramic
1960s French Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Lucite
1960s Italian Vintage Modern More Desk Accessories
Murano Glass