Modern Centerpieces
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Centerpieces
Silver Plate
1960s Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Malachite, Silver
20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s English Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Turkish Modern Centerpieces
Brass, Nickel
1990s French Modern Centerpieces
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Silver Plate
20th Century Mexican Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Centerpieces
Silver
1970s Peruvian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Metal, Silver Plate
1990s American Modern Centerpieces
Silver
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Centerpieces
Silver
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Modern Centerpieces
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Centerpieces
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Centerpieces
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Centerpieces
Rock Crystal
20th Century French Modern Centerpieces
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Acrylic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
1960s English Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Turkish Modern Centerpieces
Marble
2010s Turkish Modern Centerpieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Centerpieces
Terracotta
1890s English Antique Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century French Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Modern Centerpieces
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Metal, Silver Plate, Copper, Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Silver Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Metal, Silver Plate
1990s English Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Silver, Sterling Silver
1990s Spanish Modern Centerpieces
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Centerpieces
Silver
Mid-20th Century English Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Silver