Modern Jars
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Belgian Modern Jars
Copper
2010s Belgian Modern Jars
Ceramic
2010s Belgian Modern Jars
Silver
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Ceramic
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Porcelain
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Gold Leaf
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Italian Modern Jars
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Jars
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Jars
Glass
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Brazilian Modern Jars
Soapstone
2010s Hong Kong Modern Jars
Stone, Steel
2010s Hong Kong Modern Jars
Stone, Stainless Steel
2010s Hong Kong Modern Jars
Stone, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Jars
Ceramic, Majolica
2010s Italian Modern Jars
Blown Glass, Art Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Jars
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Early 2000s English Modern Jars
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jars
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Jars
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Gold
1980s American Vintage Modern Jars
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Jars
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jars
Ceramic
Early 2000s Japanese Modern Jars
Ceramic
1980s French Vintage Modern Jars
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Ceramic, Glass
2010s Moroccan Modern Jars
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Jars
Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Jars
Art Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Jars
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Jars
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Jars
Porcelain
2010s Moroccan Modern Jars
Other
2010s Moroccan Modern Jars
Other