Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
MID-CENTURY MODERN STYLE
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern 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.
ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Emerged during the mid-20th century
- Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
- A heyday of innovation in postwar America
- Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
- A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
- Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
- Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
- Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
- Promotion of functionality
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
- Charles and Ray Eames
- Eero Saarinen
- Milo Baughman
- Florence Knoll
- Harry Bertoia
- Isamu Noguchi
- George Nelson
- Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa
ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS
- Eames lounge chair
- Nelson daybed
- Florence Knoll sofa
- Egg chair
- Womb chair
- Noguchi coffee table
- Barcelona chair
VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s 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 pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.
Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.
Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture 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, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
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Style: Mid-Century Modern
Period: 1980s
Italian Oversized Carved Wood and Brass Peach Decorative Sculpture, 1980s
Located in Atlanta, GA
This stunning 1980s Italian decorative wood sculpture features an oversized carved peach with a brass stem and leaf. There is no visible maker's mark.
Measurements: 6 in diameter (15...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Metal, Brass
Marta Minujín, Transformational Sculpture 1982s
By Marta Minujin 1
Located in Autonomous City Buenos Aires, CABA
Marta Minujín, Transformational Sculpture 1982s
This Beautiful oiece is in very good conditions!
Measuremetns
21 centimetrs Height
22 centimeters Width
12 centimeters Depth
Marta M...
Category
1980s Argentine Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Plaster
20th Century Dino Gavina Marble Sculture mod. Altare Della Buona Fortuna
By Dino Gavina, Gavina
Located in Turin, Turin
Dino Gavina was an Italian designer, entrepreneur, and publisher. He began his career in the 1940s working on stage sets. Visual arts were a great passion for Gavina. In 1960, Dino G...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Marble
Articulated Wood Figure by Don Ellefson, 1980s
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This almost life-sized jointed wood figure isn't just a conversation starter; he's a conversation monopolizer! Is a home really ever complete without one?! Created and designed by Do...
Category
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Metal
Set of 6 life size metal Cactus sculptures, Belgium, 1980s
Located in amstelveen, NL
Set of 6 life-size decorative metal Cactus Sculptures. The sculptures were designed in the 1980s by a Belgium artist for a garden architectural ...
Category
1980s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Metal
Tom Dixon Life Size Harley Davidson Motorcycle, 1980's
By Tom Dixon
Located in Oud Beijerland, NL
Life size Harley Davidson rattan model of a motorcycle, attributed to Tom Dixon USA, Circa 1980s
Hand-made sculpture of a motorcycle of woven rattan, willow, reed and wood.
This...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bamboo, Rattan
Ceramic Sculpture of a Couple of Musicians by Walter Pozzi, 1980s
By Pozzi
Located in Milano, MI
Ceramic figurine depicting a couple of musicians, created by Walter Pozzi in the 1980s
Ø 17 cm Ø 13 cm h 30 cm
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Set of Two Mid-Century Modern Studio Ceramic Fish Figures, Vintage German 1980s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A gorgeous pair of character ceramic figural Fish statues - made by an unknown artist in a studio in Nuremberg, Germany. This character statue has been made in Germany, circa 1980s o...
Category
1980s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Modernist Ceramic Life-Size Sculpture “Restoration of Hope” By Dan Snyder 1982
By Dan Snyder
Located in Bernville, PA
Stellar modernist Mid Century ceramic life-size sculpture of a man entitled “The Restoration of Hope” By Artist (B.1948)Dan Snyder . Commissioned in 1982 fo...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Meow Century Modern Hand Painted Ceramic Cat Sculpture
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Embrace whimsical charm with the Hand Painted Ceramic Cat Sculpture, a unique piece that merges mid-century modern aesthetics with feline allure. Its graceful curves and hand-painted...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Murano, Venice, Italy. Unique art glass sculpture with a female face.
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Murano, Venice, Italy. Unique art glass sculpture with a female face.
Mouth-blown glass.
Approximately from the 1980s.
In excellent condition.
Dimensions: H 37.0 cm x D 19.0 cm.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Art Glass
Austin Productions Embracing Figures by Manuel Carbonell
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Manuel Carbonell for Austin Productions Embracing Couple. Signed and dated 1986, but i have seen variations of this sculpture dated to the early 1960's In very nice original condi...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Plaster
Vintage Mid Century Modern Brass Swan Sculpture by Dara International
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Exceptional mid century modern brass swan sculptor by Dara International, dated 1983. Displays a swan parting its wings.
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Brass
Pino Signoretto Murano Art Glass Nude Sculpture Signed by the Artist
Located in Ann Arbor, MI
Pino Signoretto Murano Art Glass Nude Sculpture Signed by the Artist As shown. Very complicated nude sculpted into a circle applied to a black glass base.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Art Glass
Cubistic French Midcentury Sculpture in Brown-Red Stone, Signed M.Z. 1981
Located in Salzburg, AT
Cubist figurative French mid-century sculpture in brown-red stone, signed.
The round shaped object shows a figure like a sketch with one arm above the head and the other between the ...
Category
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Stone
Alfredo Rossi Signed and Dated Murano Black Glass Female Sculpture Irredescent
Located in Ann Arbor, MI
Alfredo Rossi Signed and dated Murano black glass female sculpture with a glowing irredescent finish. Very high quality solid glass sculpture.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Art Glass
Royal Dux Figurine's', Porcelain Two Shell Shaped Dishes
By Royal Dux
Located in Tilburg, NL
Royal Dux figurine
Hand painted and impressive porcelain figurine modelled as two shell shaped dishes surmounted by two maidens, raised on a rustic spreadi...
Category
1980s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain
Maestro Renato Anatra Large Signed Murano Hand Blown Art Glass Sculpture
Located in Ann Arbor, MI
Maestro Renato Anatra large Signed Murano hand blown art glass sculpture. Signature as picture reads Omaggio Di Chiricco Renato Anatra. Very modernistic design in very vibrant colors.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Blown Glass
Renato Anatra Gymnast Dancer Sculpture Murano Art Glass Signed by the Artist
Located in Ann Arbor, MI
Renato Anatra Gymnast dancer sculpture Murano Art Glass Signed by the artist on the black applied base as shown.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Art Glass
Porcelain Figurine of a Boy, Bing & Grondahl, Denmark, 1980s
Located in Chorzów, PL
Porcelain figurine of a boy
Made in Denmark by Bing & Grondahl
Manufactured in the 1980s.
Model number #1696
Very good condition, no damage
Measures: height 18.5 cm wi...
Category
1980s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain
Murano Glass Penguin Sculpture, 1980
Located in Rome, IT
Beautiful Murano glass sculpture representing a penguin, with the head turned upwards.
The Murano glass sculpture has the same workmanship as a "sommerso". The "submerged" is a form...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Murano Glass Elephant Sculpture, 1980
Located in Rome, IT
Beautiful Murano glass sculpture representing an elephant, with a rigorous trunk facing upwards.
The Murano glass sculpture has the same workmanship as a "sommerso". The "submerged"...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Mint Green Italian Scavo Glass Aubergine Eggplant Figurine Vegetable Sculpture
By Murano 5
Located in Miami, FL
Mid-Century Modern mint green scavo glass murano art glass Aubergine Figurine, Eggplant Sculpture made in Italy in 1980.
Handcrafted Vegetable from the Masters in the Art Glass Metr...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Porcelain Figurine of Children, Gerold Porzellan, Germany, 1980s
Located in Chorzów, PL
Porcelain figurine of children
Signed Gerold Porzellan Bavaria
Very good condition
Measures: height: 17cm; diameter 8cm.
Category
1980s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain
Porcelain Figurine of a Woman with a Goose, Gerold Porzellan, Germany, 1980s
Located in Chorzów, PL
Porcelain figurine of a woman with a goose
Signed Gerold Porzellan Bavaria
Very good condition
Measures: Height: 21cm width: 9cm dept...
Category
1980s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain
Elio Raffaeli Signed Clear Murano Glass Nude Woman Sculpture Figurine Italy 1980
Located in Miami, FL
Italian Mid-Century Modern transparent Murano glass Female Nude made by master glass blower Elio Raffaeli.
Engraved Signature at the Base.
It is a heavy Glass Woman Figurine which lo...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Beautiful Figures Embracing Sculpture by Austin Productions c. 1985
Located in Brooklyn, NY
One of a kind elegant sculpture of two figures embracing. The sculpture is made of a white stone like material, on a polished black base. Signed and dated by Austin Productions circa...
Category
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Plaster
Mid-Century Modern 2 Piece Sculptural Blown Glass Vase Form Fit Triangle Stone
Located in Miami, FL
One of a kind 2 piece sculptural poured glass vase over a triangle stone Studio piece.
Can take a medium Flower Bouquet and sits form fit on the Base. ...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Stone
Murano Art Glass White and Gold Tree Sculpture, 1980
Located in Rome, IT
Very particular sculpture of Tree in Murano glass, stylized and linear like the art of glass in Venice commands.
The sculpture represents a stylized Christmas tree, with a gold base...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Porcelain Figurine of a Girl with Wreath, Bing & Grondahl, Denmark, 1980s
Located in Chorzów, PL
Porcelain figurine of a girl with a wreath
Made in Denmark by Bing & Grondahl
Manufactured in the 1980s.
Very good condition, no damage
Measures: height 15cm width 9cm de...
Category
1980s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain
Murano Glass Penguin Sculpture, 1980
Located in Rome, IT
Beautiful Murano glass sculpture representing a penguin, with the head turned upwards.
The Murano glass sculpture has the same workmanship as a "sommerso". The "submerged" is a form...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Bronze Sculpture of Elongated Male and Female on Marble Plinth
Located in London, GB
The elongated cast bronze sculpture of abstracted figures in a deep patinated brown show jagged figures together but separated in the conversation of life. They look away from each i...
Category
1980s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Marble, Bronze
Italian Bronze Sculpture by Marcello Pietrantoni
By Marcello Pietrantoni 1
Located in Piacenza, Italy
Italian bronze sculpture by Marcello Pietrantoni, 1980 ca.
The sculpture is signed on the base.
Marcello Pietrantoni was born in Bresci...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Mid-Century Modern /Deco Nude Bronze of Cleopatra
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine model of Cleopatra cast in bronze with multi-patinas. Mounted on an oval marble base bears the signature of the Artist ( M Turner ) on the base plate. Not many of these e...
Category
1980s North American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
1986 Curtis Jere Karl Benz Mercedes Brass Bicycle Sculpture Mid-Century Modern
By Curtis Jeré
Located in Dayton, OH
Curtis Jere wall sculpture portraying Karl Benz (Mercedes Benz) first Motorwagen that was built in 1886. Signed along the wheel, 1986. Made from brass with wood grain accents.
Category
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Brass
Decorative Murano Ice Glass Sculpture attributed to Tagliapietra 1980s Italy
Located in Villaverla, IT
Decorative Murano ice glass sculpture, attributed to Tagliapietra, 1980s, Italy.
This is an outstanding Italian artwork, attributed to the famous Vene...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Cut Glass, Murano Glass
Berea College 1984 female Figurine Sculpture
Located in South Charleston, WV
A remarkable piece from the Woodcraft Student Craft Industries of Berea College, 1984. 25.5" tall, 10" wide and 6" deep. While the artist is unknown - as...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Nutwood
Sergio Bustamante Ceramic Owl
Located in San Francisco, CA
Sergio Bustamante ceramic owl sculpture, signed 16/100 in excellent original condition.
Category
1980s Mexican Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Vintage Fiberglass Sculpture by Milosevic
Located in Saint-Ouen (PARIS), FR
Vintage sculpture by MILOSEVIC.
Dragoljub D.A, MILOSEVIC (1939-2019), is an artist born in 1939. He showed early gifts for the drawing and plastic modeling of busts. He thus obtai...
Category
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Fiberglass
Bruno Gambone Art Pottery Knight Sculpture, 1980s
Located in Munich, DE
Huge version of Bruno Gambone knight ceramic sculpture bought directly from the Artist in 1980s, signed Gambone, Italy.
Measures: 41 H x 26 B x 15 D cm.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Stoneware
Massive Nickeled Resin Skull Signed Y.D., Belgium, 1989
Located in Brussels, BE
Heavy resin skull, nickel -plated.
Signed and dated Y.D.89 at the base.
Category
1980s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Resin
Feliciano Béjar Signed Magiscope Magic Mirror
Located in Hanover, MA
Feliciano Béjar (1920-2007) sculpted these "Magiscopes" in Mexico during the 1970s and 1980s using glass ground with optic bubbles on both sides of the glass giving the viewer both concave and convex lenses through which to experience a new vision that we may perceive the magic and poetry that exists all around us. The sculptural Stand...
Category
1980s Mexican Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Steel
Dick Seeger Sculptural Creature Artworks
By Dick Seeger
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Dick Seeger large-scale sculptures, circa late 1980s. Seeger created a series of large-scale creatures all with saw horses on the interiors as foundations with papier mâché atop. The...
Category
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic, Wood
Set Vintage Ceramic Sculptures by Freek Berends, 1985
By Freek Berends
Located in Schagen, NL
These mushroom like ceramic sculptures were created by the Dutch Ceramist Freek Berends in 1985. They were most likely created for decorative purpose but can also be used as small va...
Category
1980s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Beautiful Lot of five Murano Italian Art Glass Vegetable Fruit, Italy, 1980s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Beautiful Murano hand blown Italian art glass pieces. In the shape of fruits and vegetables. Colors are as seen in the pictures. A beautiful nice addition to your collection or to di...
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Murano Glass
Contemporary Extra Large Scale Buddha Head
Located in Pasadena, CA
Large scale fiber glass buddha head with gold and black tones. Great pattern. This fiber glass buddha head is in great shape and has little to no wear.
Category
1980s Unknown Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Fiberglass
Murano Glass Head / Face Sculpture / Art Glass
Located in Buffalo, NY
Murano glass head / face sculpture / art glass, modernist design.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Art Glass
1980s "Trofeo" by Remo Brindisi Pottery Sculpture
Located in Brescia, IT
"Trofeo" by Remo Brindisi, 1988.
Category
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Pottery
Mid-century Modern figurative sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Mid-Century Modern figurative sculptures for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage figurative sculptures created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include decorative objects, serveware, ceramics, silver and glass, more furniture and collectibles and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, ceramic and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Mid-Century Modern figurative sculptures made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and North America pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original figurative sculptures, popular names associated with this style include Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Archimede Seguso, Curtis Jeré, and Jihokera. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for figurative sculptures differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $40 and tops out at $225,000 while the average work can sell for $1,200.
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