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.
$1,299 / item
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise
Located in Geneve, CH
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise Dimensions: W 22 x D 23 x H 13 cm Materials: Hand made ceramic. About: Born in 1995 in Türkiye’s Black Sea region, the artist s...
Ceramic
$519 / item
Ceramic Cockatoo Parrot Sculpture by Marioni
Located in Geneve, CH
Ceramic Cockatoo Parrot Sculpture by Marioni Dimensions: W 16 x D 16 x H 44 cm. Materials: Ceramic. Product code: 02276 Parrot in glazed ceramic. Available in different colors and ...
Ceramic
Aldo Tura, "Bougeoirs", 1960
By Aldo Tura
Located in Paris, FR
Aldo Tura 'Bougeoirs', A pair of candlesticks, c. 1960 Execution: brass and carmine lacquered parchment Signed: Tura Measure: H : 11 cm (4.3") Overall Very good condition A p...
Brass
$1,949 / item
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise
Located in Geneve, CH
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise Dimensions: W 22 x D 22 x H 20 cm Materials: Hand made ceramic. About: Born in 1995 in Türkiye’s Black Sea region, the artist s...
Ceramic
$1,949 / item
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise
Located in Geneve, CH
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise Dimensions: W 14 x D 12 x H 25 cm Materials: Hand made ceramic. About: Born in 1995 in Türkiye’s Black Sea region, the artist s...
Ceramic
1998 Italy Bronze Woman Figurine Sculpture by Marco Cornini Attesa
Located in Brescia, IT
This is a very intense lost wax bronze, and then hand painted, cast in the 1998, by the Italian artist Marco Cornini. The title is "Attesa" translated in...
Bronze
2006 Italy Bronze Sculpture by Ugo Riva Con gli Occhi Nelle Stelle
Located in Brescia, IT
This is an intense bronze sculpture created by the Italian artist Ugo Riva, in 2006. Lost wax bronze. The title of this artwork is "Con gli occhi nell...
Bronze
$2,599 / item
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise
Located in Geneve, CH
Hand Made Ceramic Yüklü Collection Vase by İpek Çise Dimensions: W 29 x D 30.5 x H 18 cm Materials: Hand made ceramic. About: Born in 1995 in Türkiye’s Black Sea region, the artist...
Ceramic
$1,134 / item
Wood and Aluminum Vaso Torno by Atelier Andre Ferri
Located in Geneve, CH
Wood and Aluminum Vaso Torno by Atelier Andre Ferri Dimensions: W 25 x D 32 x H 15.5 cm Materials: Wood, Aluminum. ANDRÉ FERRI André Ferri is from Belo Horizonte, born in 1990, g...
Aluminum
$40,164 / item
Rainbow Sculpture by Christian Friedl
Located in Geneve, CH
Rainbow Sculpture by Christian Friedl Unique Piece. Dimensions: D 50 x H 82 cm. Materials: Steel, rock crystal. Rainbow tells his story... My rainbo...
Rock Crystal, Steel
Oxidized Steel Metallized totem 165 by Frederic Texier
Located in Geneve, CH
Oxidized Steel Metallized totem 165 by Frederic Texier Dimensions: W 34 x D 25 x H 165 cm. Materials: Concrete coated with steel powder and then oxidized. Color: Oxidized steel (rou...
Concrete, Steel
Meritalia Big Surprise 2, Small / Yellow and Pink 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
$1,630 / set
Set of 3 Folio Candle Holders by Mingardo
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 3 Folio Candle Holders by Mingardo Dimensions: D22.5 x W2.2 x H11 cm Materials: Polished natural copper, Polished natural brass, Polished natural stainless steel. Weight: ...
Brass, Copper, Stainless Steel
1970 Italy Aluminun Abstract Sculpture Eugenio Miccini Ex Libris
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense artwork was created in 1970 by the Italian artist Eugenio Miccini. It is a multiple of 30 specimens, numbered and signed 3/30. The title i...
Aluminum
1970 Italy Bronze Abstract Sculpture by Urano Palma Omaggio a Giacometti
By Urano Palma
Located in Brescia, IT
This very intense and engaging artwork was created by Urano Palma that he is a well known Italian artist who starts to create his artworks following the philosophy of Lucio Fontana. ...
Bronze
$3,497Sale Price|20% Off
1975 Italy Abstract Wooden Sculpture by Nato Frascà Il Volume The Book
By Nato Frascà
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense and engaging artwork was created by the Italian artist Nato Frascà. The title is "Il Volume" translated in " The Book". This is a multiple of 50 specimens and this piec...
Wood
$1,425 / item
Seaweed 02 Sculpture by Eglė Šimkus
Located in Geneve, CH
Seaweed 02 Sculpture by Eglė Šimkus Unique Piece. Dimensions: D 36 x H 37 cm. Materials: Clay. My name is Eglė Šimkus, and I was born in Lithuania in 1990...
Clay
$1,914 / item
Perspectiva Space Divider by Colección Estudio
Located in Geneve, CH
Perspectiva space divider by Colección Estudio Dimensions: D 30 x W 30 x H 163 cm Materials: oak wood, grey wool felt Also available in ebonized o...
Felt, Oak
Nomad I:01 Vessel in White Sand Stoneware & Black Glaze by Sofia Karnukaeva
Located in Geneve, CH
Nomad I:01 Vessel in White Sand Stoneware & Black Glaze by Sofia Karnukaeva Dimensions: D 35 x W 27 x H 43 cm. Materials: Stoneware and glaze. Sofia Karnukaeva, a Barcelona-based ar...
Stoneware
1979 Italy Post-Modern Graziano Pompili Abstract Bronze Sculpture
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense and interesting abstract bronze sculpture, it is one of a kind artwork, made in 1979 circa by the Italian Artist Graziano Pompili The title "Paesaggio con ombra" is tra...
Bronze
Rotonda Large Box in Vegetable Tanned Leather & Steel by UNIQKA
Located in Geneve, CH
Rotonda Large Box in Vegetable Tanned Leather & Copper by UNIQKA Designed by CARA \ DAVIDE Dimensions: D 32 x W 32 x H 15 cm. Materials: Vegetable-tanned leather and anodized alumin...
Steel
$28,261 / item
Planet 01 Sculpture by Kris Lamba Studio
Located in Geneve, CH
Planet 01 Sculpture by Kris Lamba Studio Dimensions: W 30 x D 30 x H 65 cm Materials: Polished bronze. Weight: 25 Kg. Kris Lamba was born in London in 1984. He creates large and sma...
Bronze
1985 Italy Iron Abstract Sculpture by Alex Corno Confini Borders
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense and engaging abstract sculpture of art brutalist was create in 1980 by the Italian artist Alex Corno. This is a multiple of 10 specimens, numbered and signed by the art...
Iron
1980 Italy Bronze Abstract Sculpture by Lino Tiné Albero Città City Tree
1980 Italy Bronze Abstract Sculpture by Furio Giovannacci Indianapolis
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense and engaging abstract sculpture was create in 1980 by the Italian artist Furio Giovannacci. This is a multiple of 1000 specimen, number...
Bronze
1980 Italy Bronze Nickel Plated Abstract Sculpture by Edmondo Cirillo Stele
Located in Brescia, IT
This engagind artwork was create in 1980 by the Italian artist Edmondo Cirillo. It was forged in bronze and then nickel plated. The title of this piece is "Stele". Translate in "Stel...
Bronze, Nickel
1980 Italy Bronze Abstract Sculpture Urano Palma Tavolo Del Politico E Sedia
By Urano Palma
Located in Brescia, IT
Urano Palma is an Italian artist who starts to create his artworks following the philosophy of Lucio Fontana. He specially worked to the sculptured furniture, inventing a casting te...
Bronze
$2,300 / item
Small Sukhasana II Bowl by Marcela Cure
Located in Geneve, CH
Small Sukhasana II bowl by Marcela Cure Dimensions: W 22.5 x D 30 x H 12.5 cm Materials: Resin and Stone Composite Our Sukhasana II is our bowl version of our Sukhasana sculptur...
Stone
Cognac Leather and Steel Maggiz Magazine Rack by OxDenmarq
Located in Geneve, CH
Cognac leather and steel Maggiz magazine rack by OxDenmarq Dimensions: D 24 x W 47 x H 43 cm Materials: Steel, Leather Also Available: Different leather and frame colors available...
Steel
1986 Italy Post-Modern Mirella Forlivesi Abstract Pewter Sculpture
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense artwork was created by the Italian artist Mirella Forlivesi. Title "Rosone cometa" translated in Comet. Mirella Forlivesi was born in P...
Pewter
Telluride Stracciatella Big Decorative Bowl by Tellurico
Located in Geneve, CH
Telluride Stracciatella Big Decorative Bowl by Tellurico Limited Edition Of 12 + 1 A.P. Pieces. Signed And Numbered. Dimensions: D 42 x W 58 x H 21 cm. Materials: Volcanic porcelain...
Porcelain
$450Sale Price|52% Off
Soichiro Sasakura for Sasaki Japanese Postmodern 'San Marino' Art Glass Vase
By Soichiro Sasakura
Located in Astoria, NY
Soichiro Sasakura for Sasaki Japanese postmodern glass vase, deep opaque blue with sheer light blue band at top, marked "Sasaki" at base. 6.5" H x 9" Diameter.
Art Glass
$19,884 / item
Surrounded by Red Vase by Paolo Marcolongo
Located in Geneve, CH
Surrounded by Red Vase by Paolo Marcolongo Dimensions: D 26 x W 16.7 x H 16.2 cm Materials: Murano Glass and Iron. Paolo Marcolongo was born in Padua in 1956, he attended the Art...
Iron
Italy 1980 Post-Modern Abstract Red Laquered Bronze Sculpture Prospero Rasulo
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Prospero Rasulo Title "Fossile " translate "Fossil". It is made in bronze and laquered in red. It is also available in black. Prospe...
Bronze
Peter Shire x Vistosi Murano Postmodern Bone Sculpture with Cobalt Blue Base
By Peter Shire, Vistosi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Exceptional upright murano art glass sculpture by Peter Shire in collaboration with Vistosi Murano. Signed at bottom. Most likely one of kind. Upright bone floats above a cobalt blue...
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Opaline Glass
$1,819 / item
#3 Sculpture by Evamarie Pappas
Located in Geneve, CH
#3 Sculpture by Evamarie Pappas Dimensions: D 22.86 x W 17.78 x H 16.51 cm Materials: Stoneware, Underglaze. Non-functional sculpture. For Evamarie Papp...
Stoneware
1980 Italy Post-Modern Abstract Sculpture Alessandro Guerriero Portabuono Qua
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Alessandro Guierriero, it is a multiple of a serie of specimens made in limited edition not numbered. The set is forged in aluminum and...
Aluminum
1980 Italy Post-Modern Alessandro Guerriero Abstract Sculpture Portabuono Quo
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Alessandro Guierriero, it is a multiple of a serie of specimens made in limited edition not numbered. The set is forged in aluminum and...
Aluminum
1980 Italy Post-Modern Alessandro Guerriero Abstract Sculpture Portabuono Quo
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Alessandro Guierriero, it is a multiple of a serie of specimens made in limited edition not numbered. The set is forged in aluminum and...
Aluminum
Torsten Treutiger (1932-2019), sculpture "PROFIL II"
Located in Stockholm, SE
Sculpture in steel, "PROFIL II", by Swedish artist Torsten Treutiger. Signed and marked with artist information as well as the price set by the artis...
Stainless Steel
1980 Italy Abstract Bronze Sculpture Ottorino Tonelli Giulietta Juliet
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Ottorino Tonelli. Ottorino Tonelli was born in 1948 in Carrara, where he lives and works. After having ...
Bronze, Aluminum
1980 Italy Bronze Abstract Kinetic Sculpture Bruno Chersicla Alambicco Still
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 1000 realized in 1980 by the well known Italian artist Bruno Chersicla. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by...
Bronze
$108Sale Price / item|63% Off
Postmodern Abstract Triple Column Pillar Vase
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Beautiful postmodern vase with 3 columns and abstract blue & pink design. Additional information: Material: Ceramic Color: Blue, Pink, White Style: Abstract, Postmodern, Vintag...
Ceramic
Contemporary Design Unique Glass 'Mountain' Vase by FOS - Yellow
By FOS
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Moulded and then mouth blown glass One of a kind The Mountain vases by FOS embody the surface of the mountain, calibrated to the size of human interiors. FOS explains, “It’s limite...
Aluminum
1980s Post Modern Memphis Style Lacquered Handmade Box by Hollis Fingold, Signed
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fantastic postmodern Memphis style handmade, hand-painted wood box with distinctive rounded flat feet and sculpted wavy handle by artist Hollis Fingold. The inside of the box has a...
Wood, Paint, Fabric
Mini Mint Blue Wave Form Vase by Forma Rosa Studio
Located in Geneve, CH
Mini Mint Blue Wave Form Vase by Forma Rosa Studio Dimensions: D 8.9 x W 8.9 x H 17.8 cm. Materials: Ceramic. Available in Crystal Cream, Mint Blue, Br...
Ceramic
Italy 1980 Bruno Chersicla White Painted Metal Sculpture Egitto
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the well known artist Bruno Chersicla. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by the Certif...
Metal
Italy 1980 Annamaria Gelmi Oxidized Rust Metal Sculpture Piccolo Eden
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the Italian artist Annamaria Gelmi. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by the Certificate of the artist and the Editor who made the artworks. The iron oxidized rust sculpture...
Iron
Wing Silver Wall Piece in Welded Mirror-Polished Stainless Steel by Julian Mayor
Located in Geneve, CH
Wing Silver Wall Piece in Welded Mirror-Polished Stainless Steel by Julian Mayor Limited Edition of 8 + 4AP. Dimensions: D 18 x W 120 x H 130 cm. Materials: Mirror-polished stainles...
Stainless Steel
1980 Italy Post-Modern Alessandro Guerriero Abstract Sculpture Portabuono Quo
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Alessandro Guierriero, it is a multiple of a serie of specimens made in limited edition not numbered. The set is forged in aluminum and...
Aluminum
1980 Italy Post-Modern Abstract Sculpture Alessandro Guerriero Portabuono Qua
Located in Brescia, IT
This artwork was created by the Italian artist Alessandro Guierriero, it is a multiple of a serie of specimens made in limited edition not numbered. The set is forged in aluminum and...
Aluminum
$1,134 / item
Wood and Aluminum Vaso Torno by Atelier Andre Ferri
Located in Geneve, CH
Wood and Aluminum Vaso Torno by Atelier Andre Ferri Dimensions: W 25 x D 60 x H 15.5 cm Materials: Wood, Aluminum. ANDRÉ FERRI André Ferri is from Belo Horizonte, born in 1990, g...
Aluminum
$300Sale Price|20% Off
1980's, Postmodern Ceramic Box with Lid Signed SB
Located in San Diego, CA
Beautiful ceramic box with lid circa 1980's great graphics and colors with awesome glaze, no chips or cracks signed at the bottom SB.
Ceramic
Euphrates Vase, Designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1983 for Memphis Milano
By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group
Located in Beirut, LB
The Euphrates vase was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1983 for Memphis Milano 1981-1988. A classic by Sottsass, the Euphrates porcelain vase is part of three 'rivers' vase...
Porcelain
Italy 1980 Annamaria Gelmi Metal Painted Red Sculpture Piccolo Eden
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the Italian artist Annamaria Gelmi. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by the Certific...
Metal
Italy 1980 Riccardo Dalisi Black Metal Painted Sculpture Caffellatte
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the well known international artist Riccardo Dalisi. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed...
Metal
Italy 1980 Riccardo Dalisi White Painted Metal Sculpture Muccacaffè
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the well known international artist Riccardo Dalisi. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by the Certificate of the artist and the Editor who made the artworks. The white painted metal sculpture...
Metal
Italy 1980 Bruno Chersicla Black Painted Metal Sculpture Egitto
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the well known artist Bruno Chersicla. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by the Certif...
Metal
Italy 1980 Bruno Chersicla Black Painted Metal Sculpture Upupa
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the well known artist Bruno Chersicla. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and completed by the Certif...
Metal
Italy 1980 Riccardo Dalisi White Metal Painted Sculpture Nuvolella
Located in Brescia, IT
This sculpture is a multiple 1 piece of 50 realized in 1980 by the well known international artist Riccardo Dalisi. All the pieces are numbered and signed by the artist and complete...
Metal