Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage 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. The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field.
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 chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak, Glass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Chrome
1960s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Silver
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass, Copper
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Thai Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Glass, Teak
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Enamel
1960s Venezuelan Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Aluminum
Late 20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Silver Plate
1930s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Murano Glass
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Lucite
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Earthenware
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
1950s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Iron
1980s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Iron
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Enamel, Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal, Brass
20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Quartz
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
Mid-20th Century Norwegian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Stoneware
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Copper, Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal, Enamel
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1960s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Aluminum
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Travertine, Metal
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Enamel
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal, Brass, Copper
Mid-20th Century Malaysian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Teak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Pewter
1980s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Porcelain