The Bauhaus was a progressive German art and design school founded by the architect Walter Gropius that operated from 1919 to 1933. Authentic Bauhaus furniture — sofas, dining chairs, tables and more — and the school’s followers married industrial and natural materials in simple, geometric forms. The goal of the Bauhaus was to erase the distinction between art and craft while embracing the use of new technologies and materials.
ORIGINS OF BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGN
BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGNERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
AUTHENTIC BAUHAUS FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The name Bauhaus is derived from the German verb bauen, “to build.” Under the school’s innovative curriculum, students were taught the fine arts, such as painting and sculpture, as well as practical skills like carpentry and metalworking.
The school moved from Weimar in 1925 to the city of Dessau, where it enjoyed its heyday under Gropius, then Hannes Meyer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The period from 1932 to 1933 when it operated in Berlin under Mies was its final chapter. Despite its brief existence, the Bauhaus has had an enduring impact on art and design in the United States and elsewhere, and is regarded by many as the 20th century’s chief crucible of modernism.
The faculty roster at the Bauhaus reads like a who’s who of modernist creative genius — it included such artists as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy along with architects and designers like Mies and Marcel Breuer, who became known for his muscular brutalist-style concrete buildings in the postwar years. In 1925, while he was head of the Bauhaus carpentry workshop, Breuer gave form to his signature innovation: the use of lightweight tubular-steel frames for chairs, side tables and sofas — a technique soon adopted by Mies and others. Breuer’s Cesca chair was the first-ever tubular steel frame chair with a caned seat to be mass produced, while the inspiration for his legendary Wassily chair, a timeless design and part of the collection crafted to furnish the Dessau school, was the bike he rode around campus.
Bauhaus design style reflects the tenets by which these creators worked: simplicity, clarity and function. They disdained superfluous ornament in favor of precise construction. Seating pieces such as side chairs, armchairs or club chairs for example, were made with tubular metal or molded plywood frames, and upholstery was made from leather or cane. Above all, designs in the Bauhaus style offer aesthetic flexibility. They can be the elements of a wholly spare, minimalist space, the quiet foundation of an environment in which color and pattern come from one’s own collection of art and artifacts.
Today, from textiles to typefaces, architecture, furniture and decorative objects for the home, Bauhaus creations continue to have an outsize influence on modern design.
Find a collection of authentic Bauhaus furniture on 1stDibs.
Bauhaus Style Metal Vase
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Bauhaus-style metal vase Circa. 1960 Elegant metal vase inspired by Bauhaus design, characterized by an abstract geometric composition with clean lines and balanced proportions. The...
Metal
Eva Zeisel Art Deco Bauhaus Pottery Vase, SMF Schramberg, Germany 1920s
By Eva Zeisel, Schramberg Majolica
Located in Vienna, AT
A colorful and charming Majolica pottery vase from the German modernist Bauhaus era, designed in the late 1920s by Eva Zeisel for the Schramberg Majolika Fabrik (SMF) in Germany. Han...
Ceramic, Pottery
$140 / item
Flower vase "Architect" series2
By POPCORN
Located in 加須市, 11
Flower vase made of iron. This work was inspired by the landscape roofs of Paris.
Steel
$140 / item
Flower vase "Architect" series1
By POPCORN
Located in 加須市, 11
This single-flower vase is made of steel and has the motif of scaffolding from a construction site. Despite the material, it has a floating impression.
Steel
$120Sale Price|78% Off
Vintage West German Ceramic Art Vase from the 1970s
By Scheurich & Greulich Keramik
Located in Søborg, DK
Beautiful large ceramic art vase from the 1970s and made in West Germany Lovely floral designs and no chips or cracks.
Ceramic
Flower vase "Shadow " series 1
By POPCORN
Located in 加須市, 11
One popular way of arranging flowers in Japan is the single-flower vase. Far from being luxurious, it is a sense of wabi-sabi. I am moved emotionally by minute changes in nature. It ...
Steel
Large White KPM Berlin Porcelain Vase Trude Petri Bauhaus, Germany 1930s
By Trude Petri, Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur (KPM)
Located in München, BY
Large white porcelain vase, designed by Trude Petri for the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur KPM in Berlin, Germany 1930s. Elegant, minimalist vase in a rare large size. This is a pe...
Porcelain
Handpainted German Bauhaus Era Pottery Jug Vase - Suprematist Art Deco Design
By Bauhaus, Bauhaus Deutschland
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This unique vintage handpainted pottery jug vase showcases a striking Art Deco Bauhaus design with strong Suprematist-inspired motifs. Crafted in Germany around 1920, this modernist ...
Ceramic, Majolica
Abstract Expressionist Black Porcelain Vase in the style of Wassily Kardinsky
Located in Esbjerg, DK
Exceptional spinner-shaped vase in glazed black porcelain. It features colorful geometric expression very much so in the style of the Godfather of Abstract epressionism Wassily Kardi...
Porcelain
Scandinavian Glass Vase with Arrows, 1930s
Located in Esbjerg, DK
A cast glass vase decorated with arrow motifs. Made in Denmark during the 1930s, probably by Lyngby Glas. The style of this piece mimics the industrial tendencies of Art Deco and the...
Glass
$119 / item
Large Amber Apothecary Glasses, Jars Bottles
Located in Vienna, AT
Brown/amber apothecary pharmacy glasses from the 1920s-1930s.
Glass
Ceramic vase -Cielo di Roma- by Cuorecarpenito Bright Blue Glossy
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
The Cielo di Roma vase is an explicit tribute to that unique blue, that special light that envelops everything in Rome. It is part of the Bubble Family Collection and like all CuoreC...
Ceramic
Hand-Hammered Pewter Vase by Harald Buchrucker Bauhaus 1940s
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This exceptional hand-hammered pewter vase by Harald Buchrucker exemplifies the Bauhaus movement's refined aesthetic from the 1940s. The vase features a gracefully flared form with a...
Pewter
Bauhaus German Art Deco Blue Texture Glazed Squat Round Vase
By Bauhaus
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A very stylish Art Deco Bauhaus attributed modernist vase decorated in blue textured glazes dating from the 1930/40’s. The vase of squat wide rounded shape stands on a flat metallic glazed base with small narrow raised round opening, the body decorated in thick textured lava like blue glazes applied over the metallic glazed ground. The vase is not marked but typical of German pieces...
Pottery
Eva Zeisel Schramberg Vase German Modernist
By Eva Zeisel
Located in Sharon, CT
Rare example of the important work the young Eva Zeisel accomplished for Schramberg in 1929-1930. See period photo from 'EVA ZEISEL:D...
Ceramic
Carafe/Vase by Carl Auböck 1950
Located in Vienna, AT
A beautiful mid-century minimalist vase or carafe, "tuberculin flask", designed and executed by Carl Auböck II in the 1950s. This piece is made of clear blown glass and features a ha...
Leather, Glass
Bauhaus Era Pear Potpourri Jar in Lacquered Steel, 1920s
Located in Esbjerg, DK
As a protector//reducer of foul odors in the toilet or bedroom these small curious objects often disguised as a fruit or something humorous were popular during the 1920s in Scandinav...
Steel
Swedish Modern Hand-Glazed Ceramic vase in Yellow & Black
Located in Esbjerg, DK
Small early functionalist ceramic vase signed BO - 44. Possibly a studio piece from Bo Fajans in Sweden. Pastel wheat main-glaze hand-decorated with yellow and black stripes. Measure...
Ceramic
Heiner Hans Körting German Bauhaus Black & Brown Glazed Pottery Vase
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A very stylish German Bauhaus studio ceramic vase decorated in black and brown glazes by Heiner Hans Körting (1911-1991) and dating from 1940-50. T...
Ceramic
$800 / item
Bauhaus Period Tall Yellow Vase
By Bauhaus
Located in Sharon, CT
An unusually tall (15.5) and bright ceramic vase from one of the commercial potteries where Bauhaus or other related schools graduates to design a...
Ceramic
Set of 2 Glass Vase by Richard Lauke for VLG Weisswasser, Germany, 1960s
By VLG Weißwasser, Wilhelm Wagenfeld
Located in Kirchlengern, DE
Article: Set of 2 glass vases Producer: VLG Weisswasser, GDR Design: Richard Lauke designed in 1939 Decade: 1960s Description: Original vintage set of 2 glass vases "Fe...
Glass
Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Vase, Glass, Germany, 1950s
By Wilhelm Wagenfeld, WMF Ikora
Located in High Point, NC
A blue-coloured glass vase designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld and produced by WMF, Germany, c. 1950s.
Glass
Bauhaus Inspired German Stoneware Vase
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
An exceptional quality German Bauhaus inspired art pottery glazed stoneware vase probably dating between 1930 and 1950. The vase is beautifully made of large bulbous shape standing o...
Stoneware
KPM Berlin White Porcelain Tea Box Designed by Trude Petri
Located in Vienna, AT
Porcelain tea box white porcelain with glossy glaze, designed by Trude Petri in 1967.
Porcelain
$496Sale Price|20% Off
Vase, Ceramic, Enamel Hand Painted, Attributable to Late Bauhaus, 1930, Germany
Located in Wien, AT
Very special vase, made of ceramic with extraordinarily decorative painting, made by hand in enamel. This style in Art Deco, the workmanship and the objects of comparison, for exam...
Ceramic, Majolica
Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Vase, Glass, Germany, 1950s
By Wilhelm Wagenfeld, WMF Ikora
Located in High Point, NC
A grey-coloured glass vase designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld and produced by WMF, Germany, c. 1950s
Glass
Art Deco Ceramic Floor Vase Bo Fajans Ewald Dahlskog, Sweden, 1940s
Located in Hillringsberg, SE
Wonderful large off-white ceramic vase manufactured in Sweden at Bo Fajans and designed by Ewald Dahlskog in the 1940s. The shape and lines of the vase goes perfect with the wonderf...
Ceramic
Large Wilhelm Wagenfeld 'Felicitas' Vase, 1939
By Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Richard Lauke
Located in Los Angeles, CA
wonderful turmalin vase 'Felicitas' designed by Richard Lauke for Glasfabrik Weißwasser, produced in 1939, the largest model in this series.
Blown Glass
Midcentury West German Fat Lava Orange Bauhaus Vase, 1960
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Vintage 1960s ceramic West German Studio pottery vase, Germany Bauhaus. Midcentury ceramic fat lava glaze volcanic pottery vase in the style...
Ceramic
Restored Bauhaus Flower Stand, by Vichr a spol., Chrome, Glass, Czech, 1930s
By Vichr & Spol
Located in Brandys nad Labem, Středočeský kraj
This elegant flower stand is an iconic representative of Czechoslovak functionalism and Bauhaus design from the 1930s. It was manufactured by the prestigious company Vichr & Co., fou...
Steel, Chrome
Ikora "Dexel-Ei", an ovoid shaped vase designed by Walter Dexel for the WMF
By WMF Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik, Walter Dexel, WMF Ikora
Located in Aachen, DE
The ovoid shape of this vase was designed in the 1930ties by Walter Dexel, who was connected to artists form the Bauhaus in the 1920ties. The clear and elegant shape was then decorat...
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
Exceptional Unique Vase by Marguerite Friedlaender for Burg Giebichenstein
By Marguerite Friedlander
Located in Kiel, SH
Unique vase in "halle shape" by Marguerite Friedlaender (1896-1985) at Burg Giebichenstein. incised Burg Giebichenstein mark and a cross. Friedlaender is best known for the design of the "halle shape" which ist still in production as a porcelain vase by the KPM Berlin. MargueriteFriedlaender was student at the Bauhaus under Gerhard Marcks...
Ceramic
Ikora "Dexel-Ei", an ovoid shaped vase designed by Walter Dexel for the WMF
By Walter Dexel, WMF Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik, WMF Ikora
Located in Aachen, DE
The ovoid shape of this vase was designed in the 1930ties by Walter Dexel, who was connected to artists form the Bauhaus in the 1920ties. The clear and elegant shape was then decorat...
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
1960s Large Patterned Vase by Scheurich Keramik
Located in Pittsburgh, PA
A striking example of West German Pottery, this large mid-century vase was crafted by Scheurich Keramik, the most prolific producer of the WGP movement. Influenced by the design prin...
Ceramic