Modern Bottles
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s American Vintage Modern Bottles
Rock Crystal
2010s French Modern Bottles
Stainless Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Blown Glass
2010s German Modern Bottles
Aluminum, Gold Plate
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Fiberglass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Bottles
Blown Glass
2010s French Modern Bottles
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
2010s French Modern Bottles
Stainless Steel
2010s French Modern Bottles
Bronze
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Bottles
Glass
1970s Mexican Vintage Modern Bottles
Multi-gemstone, Silver, Sterling Silver
2010s Spanish Modern Bottles
Ceramic
20th Century Modern Bottles
Blown Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
2010s Spanish Modern Bottles
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Ceramic
1970s Mexican Vintage Modern Bottles
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Bottles
Ceramic
2010s British Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Porcelain
1950s French Vintage Modern Bottles
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Bottles
Ceramic
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s French Modern Bottles
Bronze
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s French Modern Bottles
Bronze
2010s French Modern Bottles
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s European Modern Bottles
Steel
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s European Modern Bottles
Brass
2010s European Modern Bottles
Steel
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Spanish Modern Bottles
Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Chinese Modern Bottles
Porcelain
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Chinese Modern Bottles
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Murano Glass, Blown Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware
2010s Dutch Modern Bottles
Ceramic, Earthenware