Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

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 Mid Century Italian Modern Triedri Murano Glass Flush Mount Chandelier

Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Mid Century Italian Modern Triedri Murano Glass Flush Mount Chandelier

Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Set of Three Gold-Plated Piramide Venini StyleFlush Mounts, 3 sizes, Italy

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Pair of Murano Uplight Sconces

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Textured Round Murano Glass Flushmount by Toni Zuccheri for Venini

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Textured Square Murano Glass Flushmount by Toni Zuccheri for Venini

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Murano Flush Mount Wall lights from the Bambù series, made in Italy 1950

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Large Venini Murano Flush Mount Wall lights from the Bambù series, Italy 1950

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Square Venini Murano Flush Mount Wall lights from the Bambù series, Italy 1950

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Large Venini Ceiling Lights Attributed to Carlo Scarpa for Venini, 1950s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Large Pistillino Ceiling Light by Valenti Luce for Studio Tetrarch, 1970s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Murano Glass Flush Mount by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Venini, Italy, 1970s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Huge Venini Murano Glass Flower Sputnik Chandelier, Italy, 1960s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Mid-Century Modernist Polyhedral Pendant w/ Geometric Brushed Aluminum

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Ceiling Lights Attributed to Carlo Scarpa for Venini, 1950s

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Murano Flush Mount by Toni Zuccheri for Venini, 3 Available

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Murano Flush Mount by Toni Zuccheri for Venini, 2 Available

Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

1 of the 2 Gold-Plated Piramide Venini Flush Mounts, 1970s, Italy

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Murano Glass Brass Conical Flush Mount, Italy, 1960s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Pair of Venini 1970s Esprit Ceiling Mount Fixture by Toni Zuccheri

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Classic swirl white murano glass ceiling or wall lamp Vetry Murano 022 by Venini

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Triedri Curvati Murano Glass Flush Mount by Carlo Nason for Venini, Italy

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Murano Flush Mount / Sconce by Venini

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Cascade Flush Mount Murano Glass Triedri Midcentury Italian Chandelier

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Midcentury Italian Flushmount Murano Glass Bubbles and Brass Chandelier

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Murano Flush Mount / Sconce by Venini

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Mid-Century Modern Triedri Chandelier by Venini, 1960

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Italian Midcentury Double Murano Glass, Etched Pendant / Flush Mount by Venini

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Murano Glass and Brass Flush Mount by Ludovico Diaz de Sant, Italy, 1970s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Space Age Table Lamp by Toni Zuccheri for Venini, 1960 in Murano Glass

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Murano Glass Flush Mounts by Venini

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Petite Venini Ceiling Lights Attributed to Carlo Scarpa for Venini, 1950s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Huge Impressive Venini Flushmount, Curved Crystal Glass and Gilt Brass, Italy

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

1 of 2 Large Venini Ceiling Lights Attributed to Carlo Scarpa for Venini, 1950s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Patchwork Murano Wall Sconces by Venini, 3 Available

Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Venini Cascade Hand Blown Murano Glass Six-Light Chandelier, Italy, 1960s

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Poliedri Chandelier by Venini

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

1 of the 3 XL Square 3-Tiers Venini Gilt-Plated Flush Mounts, 1970, Italy

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Pair of Toni Zuccheri Murano Glass Flush Mounts for Venini, Italy 1970s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Toni Zuccheri Venini Murano Glass Ceiling Light Italian Design, circa 1970

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting