Modern Vases and Vessels
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century Modern Vases and Vessels
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
Late 20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
1980s Mexican Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Silver Plate, Brass
20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Vases and Vessels
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass
20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass
20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases and Vessels
Gold
20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass
Early 20th Century American Modern Vases and Vessels
Clay
Mid-20th Century American Modern Vases and Vessels
Pottery
2010s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Silver
Mid-20th Century German Modern Vases and Vessels
Porcelain
20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases and Vessels
Blown Glass
20th Century Modern Vases and Vessels
Crystal
20th Century French Modern Vases and Vessels
Plexiglass
2010s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
1970s Czech Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Onyx, Marble
1980s American Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases and Vessels
Porcelain
1990s German Modern Vases and Vessels
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
20th Century American Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic, Clay
20th Century Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Murrine, Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
Late 20th Century Sicilian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Marble
2010s German Modern Vases and Vessels
Art Glass
Early 2000s French Modern Vases and Vessels
Glass, Art Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases and Vessels
Porcelain, Pottery
2010s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Travertine
2010s American Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic, Clay, Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
2010s Vietnamese Modern Vases and Vessels
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Crystal
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Art Glass
Late 20th Century Northern Irish Modern Vases and Vessels
Crystal
1990s Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
Early 2000s Modern Vases and Vessels
Art Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases and Vessels
Rose Quartz
1970s Maltese Vintage Modern Vases and Vessels
Blown Glass






