Modern Ceramics
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic, Earthenware
20th Century French Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century English Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
Mid-20th Century American Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1960s French Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1990s American Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century Chinese Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1970s Japanese Vintage Modern Ceramics
Clay
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic, Faience
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1990s Japanese Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
1960s American Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
1950s European Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
1950s French Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Chinese Modern Ceramics
Porcelain, Paint
1970s British Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
20th Century British Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
Late 20th Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1980s Swedish Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
20th Century Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Modern Ceramics
Pottery
1970s English Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1990s Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic, Paint
Mid-20th Century German Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1990s Mexican Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Early 20th Century European Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
1960s German Vintage Modern Ceramics
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century German Modern Ceramics
Porcelain
Late 20th Century British Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1970s English Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
1970s German Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Gold
Late 20th Century English Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1960s English Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
Mid-20th Century Swedish Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Late 20th Century English Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1990s American Modern Ceramics
Clay
20th Century British Modern Ceramics
Porcelain
20th Century Danish Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century English Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Modern Ceramics
Pottery
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Late 20th Century American Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1970s German Vintage Modern Ceramics
Wood, Porcelain
Late 20th Century English Modern Ceramics
Earthenware
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1920s English Vintage Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century German Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
1970s English Vintage Modern Ceramics
Stoneware