Modern Serving Pieces
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century American Modern Serving Pieces
Chrome
1980s German Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
2010s South American Modern Serving Pieces
Stone, Onyx, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Brass, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Brass, Silver Plate
2010s European Modern Serving Pieces
Walnut
2010s South American Modern Serving Pieces
Stone, Onyx, Metal
Late 20th Century Modern Serving Pieces
Ceramic
1980s Mexican Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Stone, Silver
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Serving Pieces
Pewter
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Brass, Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Modern Serving Pieces
Ebony, Macassar
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Brass, Stainless Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Serving Pieces
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
1970s German Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Stainless Steel
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Sterling Silver, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Plastic
2010s South American Modern Serving Pieces
Stone, Onyx, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Marble
2010s South American Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Serving Pieces
Pewter
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Brass
Late 20th Century Spanish Modern Serving Pieces
Brass, Stainless Steel
2010s European Modern Serving Pieces
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Serving Pieces
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Marble
2010s Turkish Modern Serving Pieces
Wood, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
2010s European Modern Serving Pieces
Oak, Walnut
2010s North Korean Modern Serving Pieces
Shell
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Bone, Leather, Ebony
Early 2000s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Serving Pieces
Crystal
2010s South American Modern Serving Pieces
Stone, Onyx, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Lava
Late 20th Century European Modern Serving Pieces
Quartz, Sterling Silver
1960s French Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
1970s Mexican Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Silver Plate
1970s Brazilian Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Lava
21st Century and Contemporary Romanian Modern Serving Pieces
Wood
1990s American Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Serving Pieces
Silver Plate
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Lava
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Serving Pieces
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Serving Pieces
Metal