Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
$9,126 / item
So Be Lonely Sculpture by Carri
Located in Geneve, CH
So Be Lonely Sculpture by Carri Dimensions: W 52 x D 5 x H 75 cm Materials: Green Cantera. B 1995 Fernanda Carri ́s intimate practice spans painting, sculpture, ceramics, and texti...
Stone
Vintage Emerald Green and Blue Murano Art Glass Elephant Sculpture Paperweight
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Gorgeous vintage Murano Venetian style handblown art glass sculpture of an elephant. Italian art glass hand blown green and uranium neon green elephant sculpture...
Blown Glass
ISOMIC Site Specific Mirror Installation by Martens & Visser
Located in Geneve, CH
ISOMIC Site Specific Mirror Installation by Martens & Visser Dimensions: D 7 x W 40 x H 200 cm. Materials: PET, Coated Steel, and Mixed Media. The installation features intricat...
Steel
$31,744 / item
Dazed Sapiens by Twenty Second Factory
Located in Geneve, CH
Dazed Sapiens by Twenty Second Factory Created by Roman Shcherbakov aka Dase X Vladislav Volosenko X Bogdan Kryvosheya Dimensions: D 52 x W 35 x H 60 cm Materials: Bronze. "Sapiens"...
Bronze
Glazed Earthenware Vase by Giovanni Poggi for San Giorgio Albisola Ceramics
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1970s. Made in glazed earthenware. It's a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight traces of use, but it can be considered as in perfect original condition and re...
Earthenware
Modernist Wastepaper Basket, Solid Beech, France, Circa 1930
Located in SOTTEVILLE-LÈS-ROUEN, FR
This sculptural object exemplifies the rigorous formal language that emerged in France during the interwar years, as designers began moving beyond decorative Art Deco toward a more s...
Beech
$4,605 / item
Gold Luster Large Kósmos Vase by deBlona
Located in Geneve, CH
Gold Luster Large Kósmos Vase by deBlona Dimensions: D 39 x H 42 cm. Materials: Ceramic. Colors: Matte finishing dark olive green, gold 24Kt luster. The ‘Kósmos’ vase exudes elegan...
Ceramic
American Post-War Silver Leaf Resin Sculpture
By Kevin Kelly
Located in Queens, NY
American Post-War Design silver leaf over resin sculpture of a vertical form mounted on a square base (Kevin Kelly) Please note the base is black, not white as pictured.
Silver Leaf
$344Sale Price / item|31% Off
Lorenza Bozzoli Arabescato Marble Handmade Bucket Vessel Vase, Editions Milano
By Editions Milano, Lorenza Bozzoli
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Lorenza Bozzoli Arabescato Marble Handmade Bucket Vessel Vase, Editions Milano, Italy. Bucket in opaque Arabescato marble with the handle in hand-brushed brass. It recalls the tradit...
Marble, Brass
Decorative Bowl in Solid Brass by STOFF Nagel
Located in Geneve, CH
Decorative Bowl in Solid Brass by STOFF Nagel Dimensions: Ø 13,8 x H 5,6 cm. Materials: Brass. Available in different finish options: brushed brass, brushed chrome, or black. Price...
Brass
Unique Ash Bowl Split by Matt Kavanagh
Located in Geneve, CH
Unique Ash Bowl Split by Matt Kavanagh. Signed by Matt Kavanagh. One of a Kind. Dimensions: W 43 x D 40 x H 18 cm. Materials: Seasoned Ash, Natural Oil, and Wax. Unique piece, hand-...
Hardwood, Ash
Obliqua Green Raku Clay Ceramic Sculpture by Stephanie Phillips
Located in Geneve, CH
Obliqua Green Raku Clay Ceramic Sculpture by Stephanie Phillips Dimensions: D 12 x W 28 x x H 45 cm Materials: Ceramic, Raku Clay Also available in other colors and custom sizes fr...
Ceramic, Clay
$352Sale Price|34% Off
German Multicolored Ceramic Vase by Walther Zander
Located in Hamburg, DE
This beautiful multicolored glazed vase is one of Walther Zanders very thin-walled turned bowls with foot. Walther Zander was a ceramist from Hamburg who worked together with his...
Ceramic
Meritalia SENZAFINE Round Basket, Large / Red by Gaetano Pesce
Located in Toronto, ON
Tangled polyurethane is used in Edizioni del Pesce to create a series of vases with various shapes: Senzafine by Gaetano Pesce. This intrinsic variety infuses each piece with its own...
Plastic
Meritalia Big Surprise 1, Large/ Blue, Green and Clear by Gaetano Pesce
Located in Toronto, ON
Each vase by Edizioni del Pesce embodies a singular and unrepeatable identity, telling a different story through innovative shapes, intricate details and a varied chromatic range. Th...
Resin
Glazed Ceramic Head Sculpture by Roy Terbeek, The Netherlands 1994
Located in Utrecht, NL
This ceramic sculpture presents an abstract human head formation, made by Roy Terbeek in 1994 in the Netherlands. The piece features a modeling of facial features. There is a sense o...
Ceramic
$2,380Sale Price|20% Off
1990s Modern Marquis Collection Of Beverly Hill Tessellated Stone Sculpture
By Marquis Collection of Beverly Hills 1
Located in Stafford, TX
Beautiful sculpture of 2 lovers made of tessellated stone! Great overall condition as seen!
Stone
Contemporary Art Armchair - Mademoiselle Valery by Carla Tolomeo
Located in Pistoia, IT
Sculpture. Unique piece hand made by the artist. 19th-century silk velvet poltrock decorated by the author. Rose back in Pontoglio silk velvet. Trimmings
Silk
Postmodern Italian Pottery Planter with Flower Stand, 1980s
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern Italian Pottery Planter with Flower Stand, 1980s
Ceramic
Blue and White Lacquered Ceramic Vase by Laveno Chinoiserie Style, Italy
By Lavenia
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1940s - 1950s. This blue lacquered ceramic vase by Laveno, Italy. It is a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight traces of use, but it can be considered as in...
Ceramic
Ettore Sottsass - Fontana arte 2666
Located in Naples, FL
Made by Fontana Arte, Milan. Glass, blue and dark blue.
Murano Glass
$3,822 / item
Red Fold Room Divider by Storängen Design
Located in Geneve, CH
Red Fold room divider by Storängen Design Dimensions: D 4 x W 70 x H 170 cm Materials: oak wood, leather straps. Available in other colors and ...
Leather, Oak
Contemporary Art Sofa - Nandì Verà by Carla Tolomeo
Located in Pistoia, IT
Sculpture. Unique piece hand made by the artist. 20th century sofa from the De Curtis home in Lugano. Decorations and velvet in Pontoglio silk, exclusive design by the Author. Gold,...
Silk
Michael Morris (1942-2022) "Nuclear Problems" Abstract Sculpture 2017
Located in Norwalk, CT
This evocative abstract sculpture was created by British-born Canadian artist Michael Morris. Known for his abstract sculptures and installations throughout the mid-20th century, Mor...
PVC, Wood
Blossom I - Black stoneware sculptural vase
Located in PRADES-LE-LEZ, FR
Blossom I is a hand-built ceramic sculpture by French artist Audrey Vo Van, created in black chamotte stoneware. The form, both grounded and ascending, suggests the quiet emergence o...
Ceramic, Stoneware
$2,248 / item
Emboss Wall Sculpture I by Sofia Tufvasson
Located in Geneve, CH
Emboss wall sculpture I by Sophie Rogers Dimensions: D 8 x W 32 x H 25 cm Materials: Ceramic, glaze Other glaze colors available. Wall sculpture with undulating shape like a dr...
Ceramic
Hermès desk magnifying glass, Paris, France, ca. 1960-1970
By Hermès
Located in Autonomous City Buenos Aires, CABA
Hermès Paris Desk Magnifying Glass, France, ca. 1960-1970 Impressive large-format magnifying glass made of silver-plated metal, signed Hermès Paris. The handle features a sculpture i...
Metal
Ceramic Totem Model A by Alessandro Guerriero for Superego Editions
By Superego Editions, Alessandro Guerriero
Located in Milan, Italy
Ceramic sculpture of the 4 Totem collection designed by Alessandro Guerriero and produced by Superego Editions. Prototype. Biography In 1976 Alessandro and Adriana Guerriero establi...
Ceramic
$56,874 / item
Calacatta Macchia Vecchia Tosca Bath by Marmi Serafini
Located in Geneve, CH
Calacatta Macchia Vecchia Tosca Bath by Marmi Serafini Materials: Calacatta Macchia Vecchia marble. Dimensions: D 92 x W 170 x H 50 cm Availa...
Marble
$3,968 / item
Ceramic Petalouda Small Gold Vase by deBlona
Located in Geneve, CH
Ceramic Petalouda Small Gold Vase by deBlona Dimensions: D 34 x H 42 cm. Materials: Ceramic. Colors: 24Kt Gold Luster, black, blue, light blue, green, white. The ‘Petalouda Small G...
Ceramic
$3,018 / item
Ceramic Petalouda Small Vase by deBlona
Located in Geneve, CH
Ceramic Petalouda Small Vase by deBlona Dimensions: D 34 x H 42 cm. Materials: Ceramic. Colors: Matt pastel color, 24 kt gold luster. This exquisite large ceramic vase features a s...
Ceramic
$7,623 / item
Gold Ceramic Petalouda Vase by deBlona
Located in Geneve, CH
Gold Ceramic Petalouda Vase by deBlona Dimensions: D 44 x H 32 cm. Materials: Ceramic. Colors: 24 Kt Gold, black, blue, light blue, green, white. The ‘Petalouda Gold’ majolica vase...
Ceramic
$1,322 / item
Pink Vase by Markus Friedrich Staab
Located in Geneve, CH
Pink Vase by Markus Friedrich Staab One of a Kind Dimensions: D 18 x H 31 cm. Materials: Wood, paint, brass, paper mache. Indian Vase out of paper mache with brass inlay for your fl...
Brass
Postmodern Glass Footed Art Centerpiece Bowl With Cobalt Swirl Applied
By Blenko Glass
Located in San Diego, CA
Postmodern Glass Footed Art Centerpiece Bowl With Cobalt Swirl Applied ,excellent condition.
Blown Glass
Small Wave Mar de Cobre Wall Sculpture by Aura Carpio
Located in Geneve, CH
Small Wave Mar de Cobre Wall Sculpture by Aura Carpio Dimensions: D 40 x H 4 cm. Materials: Copper. Weight: 3 Kg. Aura Carpio® (CDMX). Mexican industr...
Copper
Kiyomi Iwata (b.1941) 'Gauze Box' Abstract Sculpture C. 1990s
Located in Norwalk, CT
Presenting "Gauze Box," an intriguing and meticulously crafted abstract sculpture by the acclaimed Japanese-American artist Kiyomi Iwata (b. 1941). This piece, created during the 199...
Textile, Silk
"Kopka" Post Modern Candelabra In Polished Steel by FXFV
By Franco V
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Named for Alfred Kopka, the first craft master at the Bauhaus school's metal shop, expertly crafted by hand in Brooklyn, NY, the Kopka Candelabra is a sculptural addition to any spac...
Steel
$3,006 / item
Untitled 40 by Laura Pasquino
Located in Geneve, CH
Untitled 40 by Laura Pasquino One of a kind Dimensions: D 38 cm x H 38 cm Material: Porcelain. Laura Pasquino Incorporating references from ancient Korean ceramics as well as...
Porcelain
Amazonia Vase (Large), Silver and Matte Orange, Turquoise Feet by Gaetano Pesce
By Gaetano Pesce, Corsi Design Factory
Located in Toronto, CA
Vase in soft resin designed by Gaetano Pesce in 1995 for Fish Design collection. Sparkling silver, Opaque Orange and Clear Blue with Turquoise 'Feet'. * All the pieces are hand-mad...
Resin
Vintage Tiffany & Co. Sterling Silver Nut Leaf Shaped Dish With Ball Feet
Located in Doraville, GA
Vintage sterling silver bowl as a stylized leaf with a raised central ridge, topped with an open circular scroll stem and smaller leaves, raised on two circular feet. The leaf is mar...
Sterling Silver
$2,597 / item
Haniwa Warrior 12 Sculpture by Noe Kuremoto
Located in Geneve, CH
Haniwa Warrior 12 sculpture by Noe Kuremoto Materials: black stoneware sculpture Dimensions: D11 x W33 x H59 cm My interpretation of ancient clay figurine...
Stoneware
Bronze sculpture by Robert Neuhauser, Switzerland 1980s
Located in VILLEURBANNE, FR
Signed bronze sculpture by Robert Neuhauser, made in Switzerland in the 1980s. The piece is composed of a vertical volume structured through a play of solid and void. A circular hol...
Bronze
A POP inflatable "NANA" SCULPTURE by NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE France 1970
Located in PARIS, FR
A large inflatable sculpture of "Nana", Pop, Post-Modernist, New Realist, in black plastic with a jersey with brightly colored pictorial motifs, marked on the thigh: Niki de Saint Ph...
Plastic
1980 Italy Post Modern Abstract Bronze Sculpture Horse Head
Located in Brescia, IT
This is an interesting multiple artwork signed by the author Roberto Nanut, a talented artist of years 80' in Italy. This is a multiple of a numbered ...
Bronze
Lucido Costello Original Hand Made Iron Sculpture
Located in North Miami, FL
This lovely hand made iron sculpture is part of a set (male and female) - completely original by Lucido Costello, a well renowned heavy iron sculpture artist in Barcelona, Spain. Co...
Metal
Lacewood Veneer, Horse Hair, Kutnu Fabric Serving Trolley by Studio Lugo
Located in Geneve, CH
Lacewood Veneer, Horse Hair, Kutnu Fabric Serving Trolley by Studio Lugo Dimensions: W 80 x D 40 x H 78.8 cm Materials: Roupala Tree/Brazilian Lacewood Veneer, Horse Hair, Kutnu Fabr...
Fabric, Wood
Wing Wide Wall Piece in Welded Mirror-Polished Stainless Steel by Julian Mayor
Located in Geneve, CH
Wing Wide Wall Piece in Welded Mirror-Polished Stainless Steel by Julian Mayor Limited Edition of 5 + 2AP. Dimensions: D 25 x W 228 x H 122 cm. Materials: Mirror-polished stainless ...
Stainless Steel
$1,274 / item
Carafe 4 Vase by Anna Karountzou
Located in Geneve, CH
Carafe 4 vase by Anna Karountzou Dimensions: W 14.5 x D 12.5 x H 33 cm Materials: black stoneware clay, clear glaze inside, handmade crater glaze outside, fi...
Other
Vintage Pink Terracotta Sphere Vase, Geometric Sculptural Ceramic 1980s Canada
Located in Toronto, CA
A beautifully sculptural vintage Canadian ceramic vase featuring a perfect spherical form in a pink terracotta glaze. Defined by its clean geometry and smooth, rounded silhouette, th...
Ceramic
$132 / item
Small Tan Leather Desk Mat by Henry Wilson
By Henry Wilson
Located in Geneve, CH
Small Tan Leather Desk Mat by Henry Wilson Dimensions: W 32 x D 22 x H 0.4 cm Materials: Leather Our leather desk mats are made of vegetable tanned s...
Leather
$1,466 / item
Copa Buding Sculpture by Vica Ceramica
Located in Geneve, CH
Copa buding sculpture by Vica Ceramica Dimensions: D 34 x H 49 cm Materials: high temp. ceramic, wooden base VICA CERÁMICA-STUDIO is a design and sculpture studio established i...
Enamel
$517 / item
Roca Sculpture by Vica Ceramica
Located in Geneve, CH
Roca sculpture by Vica Ceramica Dimensions: D 17 x H 27 cm Materials: High Temp. Ceramic. VICA CERÁMICA-STUDIO is a design and sculpture studio es...
Enamel
Contemporary Art Fountain Le Colonne White, Light Blue by Alessandro Mendini
By Mirabili, Alessandro Mendini
Located in Pistoia, IT
Limited edition of 99 numbered and signed copies of the Column composed by 3 elements, base in polychrome ceramic, 24 white grés tiles with decorations and a bronze fish sculpture. This fountain is called “Le Colonne...
Bronze
Memphis Milano Style Handmade Ceramic Vase Made by Wilma Van Der P
Located in Doornspijk, NL
This ceramic vase is actually composed of two vases riveted together, having each their own shape, color and style. One is triangular matte black and handleless and only glazed on th...
Ceramic
"Isolated N.17" Stoneware Vase by Raquel Vidal and Pedro Paz
Located in Geneve, CH
"Isolated n.17" stoneware vase by Raquel Vidal and Pedro Paz Dimensions: 31 x 23 cm Materials: hand-sculpted, glazed pottery The pieces are hand built white stoneware with grog,...
Pottery
Postmodern Gray Ceramic Braided Woven Abstract Centerpiece Bowl
Located in New York, NY
Stunning woven braided ceramic centerpiece bowl glazed in a wonderful shade of gray with some blue tones. Great size for a coffee table or entryway. Very unusual abstract shape, plea...
Ceramic
1980s White Postmodern Wall Clock by Shohei Mihara for Wakita
By Wakita, Shohei Mihara
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A perfectly elegant and sophisticated 1980s wall clock designed by Shohei Mihara for Wakita. Postmodern, Memphis Group-influenced design at its finest! White with red, green, and yel...
Glass, Plastic
Polished Cast Brass Calice Sculptural Object by Studio Orth
Located in Geneve, CH
Polished Cast Brass Calice Sculptural Object by Studio Orth Dimensions: W 12 x D 12 x H 18 cm Materials: Cast metal. Finishes: Polished Cast Brass or Polished Cast Aluminum About: ...
Metal
Italy 1980 Post Modern Abstract Bronze Sculpture by Novello Finotti
Located in Brescia, IT
This enigmatic sculpture is made in cast bronze silver plated. This is a multiple of 1000 copies numbered and signed. The title is "Appearances". It is signed by the author Novello F...
Bronze
$1,779 / item
Sculptural Wall Vase I by Alexandra Madirazza
Located in Geneve, CH
Sculptural Wall Vase I by Alexandra Madirazza Dimensions: W 35 x D 25 x H 35 cm (These are approximate measurements) Materials: Stoneware Also avai...
Stoneware