Mid-Century Modern 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 celebrated 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.

Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. 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: Stilnovo

Creator: Lisa Johansson-Pape

Mid-Century Modern Black Vintage Metal Table Lamp by Stilnovo, 1950s, Italy

Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid-Century Modern Black Vintage Metal Table Lamp by Stilnovo, 1950s, Italy

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Suspension Pendant by Stilnovo

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

'Lampiatta' Metal Wall or Table Lamp in Glossy Red for Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid Century Italian Rare Floor Lamp By Stilnovo 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Up-and-Down Ceiling Light by Stilnovo, 1950s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Extremely Rare Stilnovo Articulating Globe 18-Light Chandelier

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Copper Pendants

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Rare Original Table Lamp Desk Stilnovo Patent of the 60s Model 8050

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Suspension Light by Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo 232 Wall Lamps by Bruno Gatta, Italy, 1954

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid Century Modern opaline glass and brass chandelier by Stilnovo, Italy 1950

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Pair of small Stilnovo chandeliers 1960

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Table Lamp Leather Model 8041, Italy, 1960

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Rare Pair of Sconces by Stilnovo

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

'Megafono' Glossy Ivory Double-Shade Wall Lamp for Stilnovo

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Italian Mid-Century Modern Brass Sunburst/Sputnik Flush Mount by Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Important Large Stilnovo Chandelier Model 1155/43

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Lampada da terra Stilnovo anni '60

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Rare Large Pair of Sconces Model 2128 in Brass and Glass, 1950s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Brass Square Stilnovo Chandelier with Opaline Glass Sconce

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Ceiling Lamp Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid Century Italian Small Stilnovo Orbit Chandelier Brass, Italy, 1955

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Rare Colorful Sputnik Chandelier by Stilnovo, 1950s

1950s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Lisa Johansson-Pape Brass Floor Lamp for Stockmann Orno, Finland 1950s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Floor Lamp Model 4052

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Brass and Black Enamel Stilnovo Style Pendant

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Aulenti and Castiglioni 'Trepiu' White and Yellow Pendant Light for Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Double Cone Wall Lamp

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Ceiling lamp, Italy 1950s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Pair of 60's Italian Red Lacquered Sconces by Stilnovo, D414

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid Century Modern Stilnovo Pendant, Model 1238, Italy 1960s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Vintage Wall Sconces by Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Wall or Ceiling Sconce Model 2055/7 by Stilnovo, Italy, 1950's

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Periscope Table Lamp by Danilo Aroldi for Stilnovo, 1960s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo 1960 Ca. Wall Lamp in Brass and Opaline Glass

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Bruo Gatta floor lamp 1950s directional arms rare collector's item

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Italian mid-century modern metal fabric and glass table lamp by Stilnovo, 1960s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Lampadario in vetro acidato e ottone, Stilnovo anni '50

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Ceiling light in pressed metal in brick red color 1970

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting