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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Portuguese Modern Vases
Glass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
Late 20th Century Modern Vases
Silver Plate
2010s Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Vases
Glass
Late 20th Century American Modern Vases
Porcelain
1940s Danish Vintage Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
20th Century American Modern Vases
Pottery
2010s Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
Early 20th Century Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Vases
Terracotta
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Murano Glass
2010s French Modern Vases
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases
Crystal
2010s American Modern Vases
Gold
1950s French Vintage Modern Vases
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases
Crystal
2010s Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Vases
Gold
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Vases
Stoneware
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases
Crystal
Early 2000s Danish Modern Vases
Opaline Glass
1990s Italian Modern Vases
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Russian Modern Vases
Burl, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Marble
2010s Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Blown Glass
2010s Russian Modern Vases
Burl
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases
Crystal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Terracotta
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic, Murano Glass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vases
Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vases
Crystal
1990s Italian Modern Vases
Glass, Murano Glass, Cut Glass, Blown Glass, Art Glass
2010s Russian Modern Vases
Ash
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic, Murano Glass
2010s Malaysian Modern Vases
Copper
Late 20th Century English Modern Vases
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic, Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Vases
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Murano Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Brazilian Modern Vases
Wood
1990s American Modern Vases
Glass, Blown Glass, Art Glass
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic, Murano Glass
20th Century French Modern Vases
Ceramic