Modern Tableware
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Modern Tableware
Crystal, Stainless Steel
2010s Modern Tableware
Crystal
2010s Modern Tableware
Crystal
1990s Japanese Modern Tableware
Silver Plate
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Modern Tableware
Crystal
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Metal, Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Metal, Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Ceramic
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Tableware
Metal, Brass, Enamel, Chrome
2010s Modern Tableware
Crystal, Stainless Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Tableware
Brass, Enamel
2010s Swedish Modern Tableware
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Tableware
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Ceramic
1990s Mexican Modern Tableware
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Brass
1990s American Modern Tableware
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Modern Tableware
Crystal
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Metal, Steel, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Gold Plate, Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Brass, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Crystal, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Crystal, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Tableware
Ceramic
20th Century Modern Tableware
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Leather, Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Aluminum, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Marble
2010s American Modern Tableware
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Leather, Walnut
2010s Dutch Modern Tableware
Travertine
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tableware
Cotton
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Carrara Marble
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Silver
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Tableware
Marble
1980s French Vintage Modern Tableware
Silver Plate
2010s Dutch Modern Tableware
Travertine
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Tableware
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Tableware
Marble
2010s Chinese Modern Tableware
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Blown Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Tableware
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Tableware
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Crystal, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Crystal, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tableware
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Tableware
Silver Plate
2010s Italian Modern Tableware
Blown Glass
2010s Dutch Modern Tableware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tableware
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tableware
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tableware
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Tableware
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tableware
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Tableware
Marble