Modern Vases
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Vases
Gold Leaf, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
2010s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Resin
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Gold
2010s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Clay
20th Century French Modern Vases
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases
Blown Glass
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Porcelain
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Palestinian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Gold
2010s French Modern Vases
Earthenware
2010s Peruvian Modern Vases
Ceramic, Stoneware
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s French Modern Vases
Stainless Steel
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s European Modern Vases
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s European Modern Vases
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Art Glass
2010s Belgian Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s English Modern Vases
Onyx
2010s British Modern Vases
Blown Glass, Art Glass
2010s Mexican Modern Vases
Clay
2010s Brazilian Modern Vases
Soapstone
2010s Argentine Modern Vases
Ceramic, Clay, Pottery
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Brass
2010s French Modern Vases
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Enamel
Mid-20th Century French Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s British Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
2010s Brazilian Modern Vases
Soapstone
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Vases
Wood
2010s Ukrainian Modern Vases
Steel, Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Vases
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Terracotta
2010s British Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s Mexican Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Enamel
1970s French Vintage Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass