Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

MID-CENTURY MODERN STYLE

Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern 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.

ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Emerged during the mid-20th century
Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
A heyday of innovation in postwar America
Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe

CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
Promotion of functionality

MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

Charles and Ray Eames
Eero Saarinen
Milo Baughman
Florence Knoll
Harry Bertoia
Isamu Noguchi
George Nelson
Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa

ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s 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 pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.

Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.

Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using 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 influencer 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. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.

As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture 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, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.

As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.

Style: Mid-Century Modern

Creator: Venini

Venini Flush Mount, Brass and Curve Glass with Black Stripe, 1970

By Venini, Murano 5

Located in Rijssen, NL

An elegant Italian Murano flushmount by Venini. Manufactured in the 1970s the flushmount is made of 11 crystal Murano glasses in different lengths. The glasses have a black stripe. ...

Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Materials

Brass

Venini Flush Mount, Brass and Curve Glass with Black Stripe, 1970

1960s Venini "Trilobi" Murano Glass Italian Design Pair of Ceiling Lamps

Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Flush Mount, Brass and Curve Glass with Black Stripe, 1970

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1960s Venini "Trilobi" Murano Glass Italian Design Pair of Ceiling Lamps

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1960 Italy Venini 'Swirl' Chandelier with Twisted Amber & Clear Murano Glass

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Alessandro Diaz de Santillana Chandelier for Venini, 1960s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1960s Venini Chandelier from Trilobo Series

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Sputnik Chandelier Murano Glass & Chrome by Paolo Venini for VeArt, Italy, 1960s

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1970s Venini Gocce Chandelier designed by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1960s Italy Paolo Venini Sputnik Chandelier Murano Glass & Chrome

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Murano Glass Chrome Plated Brass Chandelier a Light, 1940

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Light Fixture, Curved Crystal Glass and Gilt Brass, Italy

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Modernist Hand Blown Murano Glass Sputnik Chandelier with Brass Fittings

1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Style Venini Murano Glass Red Chandelier, Made in Italy, 1980s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Gorgeous Italian Venini Murano Tronchi Tube Chandelier Camer

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Pair of Round Venini Cascade Chandeliers Straws Violet Murano Glass Italian

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Chandelier Midcentury in Gilded Glass and Brass Elegant, 1950

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Tronchi Oval Hanging Chandeleir

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Murano Chandelier Amber and Emerald Handblown Glass, 1960

1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Murano Multicolored Chandelier by Gio Ponti for Venini

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Chandelier Ludovico Diaz De Santillana Murano Glass Anemone for Venini

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Pendant Light by Toni Zuccheri for Venini in Murano Glass, circa 1960

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Rare Globe Light Fixture by Venini in White Opaque Textured Murano Glass

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Large Venini Sigaro Pendant

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Pair Pendant Lights by Toni Zuccheri for Venini in Murano Glass, circa 1960

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Round Pair of Ceiling Lamp Venini Ice Glass 1960 Triangolar Tubes Italian Design

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Large Seven-Tiered Venini Chandelier

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Murano Venini Cascading Glass Prism Chandelier Vintage

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Original Tronchi and Gold Triedi Chandelier or Lantern, Murano 1960

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

12-Arm Venini Chandelier

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1970's Mid-Century Modern Murano Glass Pendant

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Camer Spiral Chandelier, Italy, 1970s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Vintage Italian Chandelier in Murano Glass by Toni Zuccheri for Venini

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Venini Murano Chandelier with 54 Discs

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Pair Murano Glass and Brass pendants, circa 1970

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Large Four-Tier Venini Tronchi Chandelier Glass Murano Tubes, 1960s, Italy

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Mid-Century Modern Chandelier Designed by Toni Zuccheri for Venini

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Pair of Venini Chandelier Tubes Murano Art Glass, 1960s Italian Design

1920s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Magnificent Murano Blown Glass Chandelier by Venini with Red Accent, 1920s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

1950s Murano, Venini & Co. Round Pendant in Orange and White Cased Glass

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

Italian Murano Art Glass Dish/Bell Shape Swirl Chandelier Pendant Light

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants