Modern More Dining and Entertaining
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s French Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Silver Plate
20th Century American Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Crystal
2010s South American Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin
2010s South American Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
2010s Finnish Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Oak
2010s Finnish Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Oak
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Marble
2010s South American Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
1970s Canadian Vintage Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Copper
2010s South American Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Plastic
2010s Lebanese Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Plastic
1970s German Vintage Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Porcelain
Early 20th Century English Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Glass
2010s Lebanese Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
2010s Mexican Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Ceramic
2010s Dutch Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
20th Century German Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Porcelain
2010s Danish Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
2010s Danish Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Stone, Metal, Silver Plate
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Stone, Metal, Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Shell, Abalone, Mother-of-Pearl
1940s Italian Vintage Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Plastic
2010s Danish Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Resin, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
Early 20th Century English Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Glass
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Murano Glass
2010s Dutch Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Wood, Paint
2010s Dutch Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Wood, Paint
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Marble
2010s Dutch Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Ceramic, Wool
2010s Dutch Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Wood, Paint
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Marble
2010s Mexican Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Hardwood, Walnut
2010s American Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Cotton, Linen, Thread