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

Number in Set: Set of 10

Hive Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Hive Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Hive Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Unused vintage Murano 1970s Flush Mount Wall Ceiling Lamp in White Swirl Glass

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Icon Chandelier by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Sei Shade Flush Mount / Sconce by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Icon Chandelier by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

LUdish Ceiling Brass Fixture by Lumfardo Luminaires

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tetrix Ceiling Light by Gaspare Asaro - Satin Brass Finish

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tetrix Ceiling Light by Gaspare Asaro - Bronze Finish

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tres Shade Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tetrix Ceiling Light by Gaspare Asaro - Satin Nickel Finish

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tetrix Ceiling Light by Gaspare Asaro- Black Bronze Finish

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tres Shade Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

'Kate' Ceiling Lamp in Metal and Opal Diffuser for KDLN

2010s American Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Iris Flush Mount 11.5", Hand Blown Glass -Made to Order

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Carlo Nason, Fascino Multi Stemmed Brass Chandelier

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Sistema Solare Chandelier, Piattelli Design, Ivory-Toned Onyx and Brass, 8-Shade

2010s American Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Petite Centric Wall Sconce in Enamel Mesh & Oil-Rubbed Bronze Blueprint Lighting

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Sakura Flush Mount / Sconce by Fabio Ltd

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

4 Stilnovo Flush Mount Fixtures

21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

LU 3 Ceiling Light

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Sakura Flush Mount / Sconce by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Sakura Flush Mount / Sconce by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Sakura Flush Mount / Sconce by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

CHAMOMILE Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

CHAMOMILE Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Bespoke Italian Geometric White Glass Black Lacquered Brass 24-Light Flushmount

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

CHAMOMILE Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Honeycomb Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

CHAMOMILE Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

CHAMOMILE Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Honeycomb Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

CHAMOMILE Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Huge White Tulip Petals Murano Chandelier or Ceiling Light

2010s European Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Large Chandelier Angelo Lelli Style, 6 Opaline Glass Flush Mount

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

Hollywood regency Glass and Brass Ceiling Light, Ernst Palme Palwa 1970s Germany

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Honeycomb Chandelier by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Tropico Palmette Flush Mount by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting

Hive Chandelier by Fabio Ltd

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Lighting