Modern Sterling Silver
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sterling Silver
Bronze
1980s Swedish Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1980s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Silver, Sterling Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold
1980s American Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1970s Peruvian Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1970s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1920s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1980s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
Early 2000s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1970s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Polish Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
Early 2000s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1930s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1990s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
20th Century Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1960s European Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Gold Plate, Enamel, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1980s American Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1970s English Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1970s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century British Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
2010s British Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s Israeli Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1990s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1980s English Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
20th Century North American Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
20th Century English Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s Israeli Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Gold Plate, Enamel, Sterling Silver
1970s North American Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
Late 20th Century American Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1960s Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Israeli Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Sterling Silver
Gold, Sterling Silver, Brass
1970s Peruvian Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1950s American Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Metal
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
20th Century Spanish Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1910s English Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century American Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver, Brass
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sterling Silver
Bronze
1970s British Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Gold, Sterling Silver
1970s Finnish Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1940s American Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
1990s Italian Modern Sterling Silver
Silver
1930s English Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Mexican Modern Sterling Silver
Stone, Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
1960s English Vintage Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver