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

20th Century Italian Pair of Two Vintage Aluminum Wall Sconces by Stilnovo

Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

20th Century Italian Pair of Two Vintage Aluminum Wall Sconces by Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo 232 wall lamps by Bruno Gatta Italy 1954 black

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Joe Colombo 'Minitopo' Table Lamp in Chrome for Stilnovo

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Table Lamp with Brass and Glass by Stilnovo, Italy, 1960s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

20th Century, Stilnovo Table Lamp mod. 8052

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Pendant Lamp

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Floor Lamp with Marble Base by Stilnovo, 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Bruno Gatta Stilnovo Large Pendant Lamps 1954, Model 288

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Pair of two-tone enamelled metal and brass wall lights by Stilnovo, Italy, 1950s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Chrome floor lamp by Gae Aulenti & Livio Castiglioni for Stilnovo, 1970s

1950s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Tripod Floor Lamps in Brass by Lisa Johansson-Pape & Orno, Finland 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Pair of Chandelier Midcentury Italian Design Stilnovo White Glass Brass Gold

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Original Mid-Century Sputnik Chandelier by Stilnovo, Italy 1950s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Red Murano Cased Glass and Brass Pendant Chandelier by Stilnovo, Italy 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Chandelier Opaline Glass Brass Iron 1950 Italy

1960s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Lisa Johansson Pape Pair of Table Lamps Model 46-017, Glass & Rattan, Orno 1960s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Large 1960s Stilnovo Faceted Diffuser Pendant Lamp

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Rare Pair of Articulating Sconces, Italy, 1960s

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Vintage by Stilnovo 1955 lampada a sospensione Italia

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Flush Mount Fixture

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Two-tone Stilnovo Floor Lamp

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Pair of Stilnovo Wall Lamps, Italy, 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Couple Chandeliers Glass Metal Brass, 1950, Italy

1950s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Lisa Johansson-Pape Perforated Brass Wall Sconce Model 50-084, Orno 1950s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Pair of Lamps Metal and Methacrylate by Stilnovo for Artimeta, Italy, 1970s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Black & Brass Suspension Chandelier, Textured Glass, Italy, c. 1960’s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Single Ceiling Light by Stilnovo

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo ceiling pendant with 3 lights circa 1960s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Tripod Floor Lamp, 1950s

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

STILNOVO - 1950s Table Lamp - Model 8022

1950s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Mid-Century Lisa Johansson-Papé Brass Ceiling Pendant model 61-368, Orno 1950s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo - Lampada da tavolo o scrivania - 1960

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Rare Stilnovo chandelier

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo UFO ceiling pendant

Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Lisa Johansson-Pape, pair of mid-century modern ceiling lamps for ORNO

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Chandelier by Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Floor Lamp White and Red Metal Lampshades Brass Marble, Italy, 1955

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Giovanni Gorgoni 'Buonanotte' Metal & Acrylic Table Lamp in White for Stilnovo

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting

Stilnovo Mid-Century Modern Italian 30-Light Brass Chandelier, 1960s, Rare

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Lighting