Modern 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Iron
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Leather, Alligator
1990s English Modern Desk Accessories
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Desk Accessories
Sterling Silver, Enamel
1990s Italian Modern Desk Accessories
Plastic, Wood
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Gold
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Silver Plate, Bronze
1990s Spanish Modern Desk Accessories
Chrome
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Art Glass
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Lucite
1990s Unknown Modern Desk Accessories
Art Glass
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Hardwood, Paint
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Art Glass
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Art Glass
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Bronze
1990s Italian Modern Desk Accessories
Metal
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Bronze
Mid-20th Century French Modern Desk Accessories
Silver Plate
Early 1900s English Antique Modern Desk Accessories
Metal, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1960s French Vintage Modern Desk Accessories
Bronze
2010s Indian Modern Desk Accessories
Bronze
2010s Indian Modern Desk Accessories
Brass
1960s French Vintage Modern Desk Accessories
Silver
20th Century Italian Modern Desk Accessories
Leather
2010s Indian Modern Desk Accessories
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Desk Accessories
Marble
2010s French Modern Desk Accessories
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Desk Accessories
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Desk Accessories
Marble
1990s German Modern Desk Accessories
Art Glass
1990s Swedish Modern Desk Accessories
Blown Glass
1990s European Modern Desk Accessories
Metal
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Lucite
1990s Austrian Modern Desk Accessories
Crystal
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Crystal
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Leather
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Glass
1990s Philippine Modern Desk Accessories
Leather
1990s French Modern Desk Accessories
Lapis Lazuli, Gold Plate
1990s American Modern Desk Accessories
Acrylic
1990s Danish Modern Desk Accessories
Silver