Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American 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.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s 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, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century 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, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1950s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Brass
1960s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1940s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Shell, Wood
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Brass, Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Steel, Sheet Metal
Late 20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Australian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass, Copper
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Brass
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Brass, Metal
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1940s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Brass, Wire
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Glass
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Murano Glass
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Crystal, Carrara Marble
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Glass
2010s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Brass, Wire
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1960s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Metal, Steel, Chrome
20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Art Glass
2010s North American Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Wood, Hardwood, Walnut, Bentwood
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal
Mid-17th Century Italian Antique Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Metal, Nickel
2010s European Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Lighting
Brass
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