Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Art Glass
1930s Swedish Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Pewter
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s French Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Iron
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
1930s German Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Nickel
1930s German Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Nickel
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
1930s German Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
20th Century Austrian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1960s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Early 20th Century European Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1950s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1950s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1970s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
1950s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1960s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Amethyst, Crystal, Rock Crystal, Iron
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass, Bakelite
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s German Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
1930s German Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s English Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s English Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s English Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass