Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale, in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century designers caught the spirit.
Classically-oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb — who designed holistic groups of sleek, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Majolica, Ceramic, Faience
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
1960s North American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Rosewood
Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Teak
1940s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Brass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Pottery
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Clay
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Bamboo, Lucite, Plexiglass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Gold
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Glass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Clay, Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1970s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Metal, Steel, Chrome
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Pottery
1960s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Plastic
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Norwegian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Enamel, Stainless Steel
Early 20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Metal
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Faience
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Pottery
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
1950s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Pottery
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain