Modern Platters and Serveware
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Platters and Serveware
Wood, Silk, Python
Late 20th Century French Modern Platters and Serveware
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Brass, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Platters and Serveware
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Platters and Serveware
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Plastic
20th Century Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Lava
Mid-20th Century American Modern Platters and Serveware
Sterling Silver
2010s American Modern Platters and Serveware
Brass
2010s American Modern Platters and Serveware
Malachite, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Modern Platters and Serveware
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Ceramic, Majolica
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Platters and Serveware
Plywood
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Stainless Steel
Early 20th Century American Modern Platters and Serveware
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Plastic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Platters and Serveware
Silver Plate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Quartz
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx
Late 20th Century American Modern Platters and Serveware
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
20th Century European Modern Platters and Serveware
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Quartz, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Quartz
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx, Quartz, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Onyx, Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Quartz
2010s Portuguese Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Platters and Serveware
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Platters and Serveware
Silver Plate
2010s Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Platters and Serveware
Brass
2010s American Modern Platters and Serveware
Silk, Wood, Python
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Platters and Serveware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Porcelain
2010s American Modern Platters and Serveware
Silk, Wood, Python
2010s American Modern Platters and Serveware
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Platters and Serveware
Wood, Hardwood, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Platters and Serveware
Wood, Hardwood, Mahogany
2010s Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Porcelain
2010s American Modern Platters and Serveware
Animal Skin, Silk, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
Leather
1990s French Modern Platters and Serveware
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Modern Platters and Serveware
Silver Plate