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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Bottles
Murano Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Glass
Mid-20th Century French Modern Bottles
Ceramic
1980s Austrian Vintage Modern Bottles
Art Glass
1940s North American Vintage Modern Bottles
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bottles
Murano Glass
1980s Vintage Modern Bottles
Art Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bottles
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bottles
Murano Glass
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Blown Glass
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Bottles
Blown Glass
2010s Swedish Modern Bottles
Art Glass, Blown Glass
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Ceramic
1960s American Vintage Modern Bottles
Pewter
Early 2000s Italian Modern Bottles
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s British Modern Bottles
Glass, Plastic, Art Glass, Blown Glass
20th Century French Modern Bottles
Art Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bottles
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bottles
Blown Glass, Mirror
1920s English Vintage Modern Bottles
Pewter
2010s Italian Modern Bottles
Ceramic
1990s French Modern Bottles
Glass