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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Centerpieces
Silver
20th Century Mexican Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Glass, Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble
1970s Peruvian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Metal, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
Art Glass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Onyx, Marble
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Silver Plate, Copper
1980s American Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
2010s English Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Porcelain
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Murano Glass
2010s American Modern Centerpieces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
1990s American Modern Centerpieces
Silver
Late 20th Century North American Modern Centerpieces
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Modern Centerpieces
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
2010s English Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Porcelain, Art Glass, Blown Glass
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Ceramic
2010s British Modern Centerpieces
Art Glass, Blown Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Centerpieces
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Centerpieces
Brass