Modern Natural Specimens
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
15th Century and Earlier Malagasy Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Natural Specimens
Marble
20th Century Unknown Modern Natural Specimens
Horn
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Natural Specimens
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Natural Specimens
Iron
18th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Wood
2010s American Modern Natural Specimens
Quartz
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Natural Specimens
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Natural Specimens
Stone
Late 20th Century Spanish Modern Natural Specimens
Rubber
2010s American Modern Natural Specimens
Amethyst
Early 2000s American Modern Natural Specimens
Leather
1960s Vintage Modern Natural Specimens
Metal
18th Century Spanish Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Natural Specimens
Plaster, Jute, Fiberglass
20th Century Spanish Modern Natural Specimens
Wood
18th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Natural Specimens
Coral
Late 20th Century American Modern Natural Specimens
Horn, Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Natural Specimens
Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Natural Specimens
Coral
18th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Marble
17th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Carrara Marble
Mid-20th Century English Modern Natural Specimens
Leather
Early 2000s American Modern Natural Specimens
Coral
20th Century Modern Natural Specimens
Malachite, Copper
15th Century and Earlier Swedish Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Stone
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Natural Specimens
Ceramic
20th Century Modern Natural Specimens
Horn
Late 20th Century Mexican Modern Natural Specimens
Stone
18th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Wood
18th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Wood
18th Century Italian Antique Modern Natural Specimens
Wood
20th Century Modern Natural Specimens
Quartz
2010s American Modern Natural Specimens
Quartz