Modern Urns
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Urns
Terracotta
2010s American Modern Urns
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Urns
Terracotta
2010s Italian Modern Urns
Terracotta
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Urns
Granite, Marble, Brass, Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Urns
Aluminum
20th Century European Modern Urns
Murano Glass, Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
1920s French Vintage Modern Urns
Pewter
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Urns
Porcelain
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Urns
Aluminum, Enamel
Late 20th Century Modern Urns
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Modern Urns
Stoneware
2010s American Modern Urns
Wood, Hardwood, Maple, Softwood, Reclaimed Wood, Scrap Wood, Pottery, Ce...
1970s American Vintage Modern Urns
Metal
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Urns
Stoneware
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Urns
Aluminum, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Urns
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Urns
Porcelain
2010s American Modern Urns
Hardwood, Maple, Softwood, Reclaimed Wood, Scrap Wood, Wood, Ceramic, Po...
2010s American Modern Urns
Hardwood, Maple, Softwood, Reclaimed Wood, Scrap Wood, Wood, Ceramic, Po...
Early 20th Century German Modern Urns
Silver, Bronze, Copper
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Urns
Marble
2010s Malaysian Modern Urns
Copper
Late 20th Century American Modern Urns
Ceramic
2010s Malaysian Modern Urns
Copper
2010s American Modern Urns
Hardwood, Maple, Walnut, Reclaimed Wood, Scrap Wood, Wood, Ceramic