Modern Scientific Instruments
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
Mid-20th Century American Modern Scientific Instruments
Mahogany
1960s German Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Composition, Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
2010s Australian Modern Scientific Instruments
Brass, Stainless Steel
2010s Australian Modern Scientific Instruments
Brass
20th Century Modern Scientific Instruments
Silver
2010s Australian Modern Scientific Instruments
Brass
Late 20th Century German Modern Scientific Instruments
Gold, Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century German Modern Scientific Instruments
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century German Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
20th Century Modern Scientific Instruments
Aluminum
1940s Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Fiberglass, Wood
Early 20th Century American Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
1920s French Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Glass, Plexiglass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Scientific Instruments
Aluminum, Silver
2010s Italian Modern Scientific Instruments
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Scientific Instruments
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Scientific Instruments
Copper
1880s Antique Modern Scientific Instruments
Plaster
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Brass
Late 19th Century British Antique Modern Scientific Instruments
Mahogany
1910s American Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Paper
20th Century North American Modern Scientific Instruments
Bakelite
1920s American Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
Late 19th Century British Antique Modern Scientific Instruments
Sterling Silver
2010s British Modern Scientific Instruments
Leather
Early 20th Century Unknown Modern Scientific Instruments
Glass
1970s French Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal, Chrome
Early 20th Century Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
Mid-20th Century Modern Scientific Instruments
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
20th Century Unknown Modern Scientific Instruments
Glass
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Bakelite
1950s Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Wood
1980s German Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
Early 20th Century American Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
1980s Canadian Vintage Modern Scientific Instruments
Stainless Steel
20th Century Modern Scientific Instruments
Brass