Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
MODERN STYLE
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Style: Modern
Color: Gray
Bespoke Alligator Skin Mahjong Game Set
By IMPATIA
Located in Milan, IT
With a continued desire to push the boundaries of luxury design within the game table industry, IMPATIA unveils a brand new contemporary Mahjong set crafted from Mississippiensis alligator skin...
Category
2010s Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Chrome
Vintage Cut Crystal Clear Glass Ashtray Monogrammed
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Beautiful cut crystal clear glass ashtray decorated with a monogram design.
Heavy crystal shines like a diamond.
Wonderful fashionable glass multif...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal
Joan Miro Kalender 2015
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Joan Miro Kalender 2015,
Beautiful artistic calender after the painting of Joan Miro.
This is a beautiful collectible booklet.
Category
20th Century European Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Custom Poker Game Set With Leather Box by Impatia
By IMPATIA
Located in Milan, IT
With each collection, Impatia aims to explore design through different perspectives. Among a strong focus on developing one of kind game tables, it is just as equally important to fo...
Category
2010s Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Chrome
Picasso in Antibes by Dor De La Souchère, 1960
By Romuald Dor de la Souchère 1
Located in London, GB
Picasso in Antibes by Dor De La Souchère.
Published by Perry Lund, Humphries & Company Ltd. 1960.
First edition.
Photographs by Marianne Greenwood, ...
Category
1960s British Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Lladró Polo Player Figurine in White by Ernest Massuet. Limited Edition.
By Ernest Massuet, Lladro
Located in New York City, NY
White matte porcelain figurine of a limited series polo player with methacrylate support attached to the base. Polo Player, is a piece full of energy in which we see the horse litera...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Acrylic, Porcelain
Inspired by Antiques Caroline Clifton-Mogg & Fritz Von der Schulenburg
By Caroline Clifton-Mogg
Located in London, GB
Inspired by Antiques
Published by Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd., 1999. Hardback in dust jacket.
Caroline Clifton-Mogg & Fritz Von der Schulenburg
Caroline Clifton-Mogg offers help and guidance as to how you can achieve a pleasing juxtaposition of old and new. With colour photographs showing the work of the best interior designers...
Category
1990s English Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Windsor Chairs, An Illustrated Celebration, Michael Harding-Hill
Located in London, GB
Windsor chairs
By Michael Harding-Hill
Published by Antique Collectors Club, 2007. Hardback in dust jacket.
The Windsor Chair, whether simple or complicated in construction, plain or ornate in appearance, has always served its purpose - to be utilitarian, durable, comfortable and even handsome. Many excellent academic works have been written on the subject, but this book does not attempt to improve on their expertise. The intention rather is to complement them by showing the finest designs in greater detail. The form and construction of the chairs speak for themselves. All the chairs illustrated, although made in different centuries, are in use today. More than 150 colour plates illustrate the very best Windsor chairs from the earliest stick-backs - literally stools with a few sticks added to the back - of the 18th century to those mass-produced for offices, schools, public institutions and the armed forces in the 19th century. There is a special section on American Windsors and an epilogue outlines the story of the Windsor chair through the 20th century and concludes by illustrating a 2002 Golden Jubilee chair...
Category
Early 2000s British Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
The Artful Teapot, Garth Clark
Located in London, GB
The Artful Teapot Garth Clark & Tony Cunha - Published by Watson-Guptill, New York 2001. Hardback in dust jacket. First edition.
Celebrates the many ar...
Category
Early 2000s American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Lladró Tiger Mask in Black and Gold by José Luis Santes
Located in New York City, NY
Porcelain piece inspired by traditional African masks with a bold, contemporary and modern design of great decorative power. A collection that brings together three different animals...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Vintage Cut Crystal Glass Ashtray, Italy, 1960s
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Beautiful cut crystal clear glass ashtray decorated with a cut star design.
Wonderful fashionable glass multifaceted ashtray or decorative object
Heavy clear handcut etched crystal...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal
Luxury Crocodile Billiards Game Set with Chrome & Glass Detailing
By IMPATIA
Located in Milan, IT
With a continued desire to push the boundaries of luxury design within the game table industry, IMPATIA unveils a brand new contemporary billiards set crafted from genuine crocodile ...
Category
2010s Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Chrome
Fifty Years of Pep A Storied Past, A Promising Future, Hardcover Book
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Fifty Years of Pep: A Storied Past. A Promising Future. Hardcover – January 1, 2015
by Andrew Postman (Author), Indra K. Nooyi (Foreword)
"This book contains the story of our first...
Category
20th Century American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
The Big Book Of Harley-Davidson Hardcover Book
Located in North Hollywood, CA
The Big Book Of Harley-Davidson:
Official Publication by Harley-Davidson, Inc.
Bolfert, Thomas C.
Published by Harley-Davidson Inc. Milwaukee, 1989
The Big Book Of Harley-Davidso...
Category
1990s American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Lladró The Guest Small Figurine by Rolito, Numbered Edition
Located in New York City, NY
White and black porcelain figurine with a silver gloss created by Rolito for The Guest by LLadró Atelier collection with a white base attache...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Lladró the Love Explosion Couple Figurine by Jaime Hayon
Located in New York City, NY
Glossy porcelain figurine designed by Jaime Hayon with a modern design of a family decorated with bright colors and golden luster. Like all the pieces in Jaime Hayon's The Fantasy co...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Picasso, Peintre-Graveur: Catalogue Raisonné, Tome 1 - Bernhard Geiser, 1990
Located in London, GB
Picasso, Peintre-Graveur: Tome 1, Catalogue Raisonné de L'Oeuvre Gravé et Lithographié et Des Monotypes, 1899-1931. By Bernhard Geiser, corrections, redesign and supplement by Brigit...
Category
1990s Swiss Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Visionaire Limited Edition Number 28 “The Bible”
By Visionaire
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A rare Visionaire edition number 28. Entitled “the Bible” from a Palm Springs Estate that had a large Visionaire collection. Bible is #186 in a worldwide edi...
Category
1990s American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Plastic
Lladró Owl Mask in Black and Gold by José Luis Santes
Located in New York City, NY
Porcelain piece inspired by traditional African masks with a bold, contemporary and modern design of great decorative power. A collection that brings together three different animals...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Black and White Lucite Interactive Tower Sculpture Signed Vintage
Located in North Miami, FL
This vintage 1970s black and white Lucite tower sculpture is interactive as one can build forms from the disks. You can place some on the inside and others on the outside as if you a...
Category
1970s American Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Lucite
History Of Modern Art by Arnason, H. H., Mansfield, Elizabeth C.
Located in North Hollywood, CA
History Of Modern Art
By Arnason, H. H.; Mansfield, Elizabeth C.
For undergraduate course in Modern Art, Origins of Modernism, Art since 1945, Contemporary Art and other courses fo...
Category
1980s French Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Spiderman Bust Sculpture in Carrara Marble
Located in Tivoli Terme, Roma
The sculpture was made from a single block of Carrara statuary marble, one of a kind piece.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Carrara Marble
Art Deco Revival White Full Body Vintage Plastic Mannequin, 1980s, France
Located in Vienna, AT
Art Deco Revival white full body vintage plastic mannequin, which was designed and manufactured, 1980s, France.
The mannequin shows geometric and cubism inspired features. The body ...
Category
Late 20th Century French Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Plastic
Lladró the Guest Small Figurine by Devilrobots, Numbered Edition
Located in New York City, NY
Porcelain figurine with black gloss on its face, hands and feet created by Devilrobots for The Guest by Lladró Atelier collection with a white base attached to the piece. This piece ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Women's Leather- Covered Bicycle Natural
Located in Milan, IT
More than a method of transportation, this women's bicycle is a collector's item. Covered in hand sewn leather, it will make a striking impression no matter where you go. It can withstand all weather conditions due to its water-resistant, natural wax coating and acquires a unique patina over time. A matching, handwoven basket...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Leather
Shops & Boutiques, Foreword by Giorgio Armani by Grant Camden Kirkkpatric AIA
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Shops & Boutiques. Foreword by Giorgio Armani. Grant Camden Kirkkpatric AIA.
Published by NY: PBC Interational, INC., (1994).
179 pages. Hardcover.
"Never before has the relations...
Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Maharam Bear by Pin-Up
Located in New York, NY
Maharam Bear by Pin-up
003 Harbor
Initially created for Pin–up’s Fall/Winter 2016/2017 issue, the Bear is handmade by a small-scale Canadian producer fro...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Leather
Lladró Winged Beauty Woman Sculpture by Francisco Polope. Limited Edition.
Located in New York City, NY
Limited edition, gloss finish porcelain sculpture of a woman with beautiful white wings, embellished with blue and white enamel. Half woman, half goddess, the protagonist of this pie...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Angel's World the New York Photographs of Angelo Rizzoto. Lesy, Hardcover Book
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Angel's World: The New York Photographs of Angelo Rizzoto.
Lesy, Michael
First edition of this collection of photographs. Quarto, original black cloth, illustrated. Inscribed by Mi...
Category
Early 2000s American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Lladró the Guest Small Figurine by Tim Biskup, Numbered Edition
Located in New York City, NY
Glossy porcelain figurine in silver luster created by Tim Biskup for the collection The Guest by LLadró Atelier with a white base attached to the piece. This piece is renowned design...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Porcelain
Visionaire Number 38 “Love” Limited Edition
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A lovely “LOVE” box numbered 3465 of 4000 edition by Tiffany & Co. A rare very desirable edition. From a Palm Springs Visionaire Collectors estate.
Category
Early 2000s American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Men's Leather - Covered Bicycle Tobacco and Green
Located in Milan, IT
The frame of this eye-catching men's bicycle is covered in hand sewn leather, ensuring it will stand out and make a striking impression. Its high-qua...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Leather
Modern All Glass Ping Pong Table with Gold Components by Impatia
Located in Milan, IT
The Lungolinea premium gold edition is a vision, a desire to ambitiously reinterpret the classics. It demonstrates the sophistication and ingenuity of Italian design and craftsmanship in the game of table tennis. It is a refined object, a sublime witness of the most advanced Made in Italy technology, that poses no limits to the game.
Crafted from low-iron tempered glass, the table has a crystal clear aesthetic that is strong and durable. The Olympic size table is carefully designed to ensure high performance playing qualities. This special edition has connecting joints and part of the net kit individually 24-karat gold plated by a skillful Italian goldsmith to satisfy the most sophisticated needs. The table is finished off with a premium black Alcantara net which is laser-cut with a custom pattern.
A highlight of this table is that the net can easily be completely removed and utilized as a dining room or meeting room table...
Category
2010s Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Gold Plate
Modern Glass Ping Pong Table With Removable Net by Impatia
Located in Milan, IT
The Lungolinea glass ping pong table is a vision, a desire to ambitiously reinterpret the classics. It demonstrates the sophistication and ingenu...
Category
2010s Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Chrome
"Cristallino" Crystal Foosball Transparent Table by Adriano Design for Teckell
Located in Brooklyn, NY
"Cristallino" is a crystal foosball table, designed by Adriano Design and manufactured by Teckell, featuring a tempered clear crystal structure 0.59" th., with beveled and cerium oxide polished corners, a playing field in laminated crystal (molded sheet sloping at the corners) in transparent glass, players made of aluminum, one team in shiny chrome, the other in dark nickel finish.
DIMENSIONS: D. 29.13" (table with rods...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal, Nickel, Chrome, Stainless Steel, Brass, Aluminum
Contemporary Glass Pool Table by Impatia
Located in Milan, IT
Filotto is the first product created for Impatia’s collection, which gives new life, new characteristics, and new values to a Classic product. The design, construction, and workmansh...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Slate, Metal, Chrome
Rene Dumas Lucite Sculptural Chess Players French Vintage
Located in North Miami, FL
The designer of these amazing vintage French lucite modernist chess players from the 1970s are by Renee Dumas who is related to the Hermes family. They a...
Category
1970s French Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Lucite
Maharam Bear by Pin-Up
Located in New York, NY
Maharam bear by Pin-Up
004 Ivy
Initially created for Pin-Up’s Fall/Winter 2016-2017 issue, the Bear is handmade by a small-scale Canadian producer from L...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Leather
STRATEGO Chessboard in black by Lorenzo Di Giovanni for Teckell
By Teckell
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Stratego chessboard, designed by Lorenzo di Giovanni and manufactured by Teckell, features an extra-clear crystal top with a solid marble base, available in three options: Calacatta ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal, Marble
Seaman Schepps, A Century of New York Jewelry Design, 2000s
Located in New York, NY
'Seaman Schepps, A Century of New York Jewelry Design', a gorgeous coffee table or library book on this iconic American jewelry maker/designer who grew up in New York's LES (Lower Ea...
Category
20th Century American Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
20th Century Oil Painting of Madonna and Child by Arnedo Linares, Spain
Located in Miami, FL
20th Century Oil Painting of Madonna and Child by Arnedo Linares, Spain (1925-2011)
This oil depicting the "Desamparados Verge" patron saint of Valencia...
Category
Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Harrier 'Jump' Jet Tailplane Desk
Located in London, GB
A stunning desk made from an original Harrier 'Jump' Jet Tailplane Horizontal Stabiliser that has been stripped of its paint and polished to a mirror finish. Three aluminium legs and...
Category
Late 20th Century British Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Aluminum
"Nemo" Armchair by F. Novembre in Metallic Gold or Silver for Driade
By Fabio Novembre, Driade
Located in Brooklyn, NY
1:8 scale miniature reproduction of the iconic "Nemo" head-armchair, designed by Fabio Novembre and manufactured by Driade.
Made in ABS and available in gold or silver metallic colors.
DIMENSIONS:
D. 3", W. 4.3", H. 6.6"
FABIO NOVEMBRE uses furniture design to tell intense and fascinating stories in which the protagonist is often the human figure. This human figure is capable of becoming abstract and universal, able to propose a mythical beauty as occurred in Greek art. So that Nemo, a face with classic features, is hollowed out to create an inhabitable space. The result is a head-armchair to be lived from the inside. Like a mask, it simultaneously conceals and reveals its inhabitant.
Fabio Novembre said about Nemo:
"In 2010 it happened that the name "Nemo" immediately evoked the famous little fish, protagonist of the movie of the same name, made by Pixar in 2003.
If this question had been asked at the end of the nineteenth century, the answer would have probably been Captain Nemo...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Acrylic
Claes Oldenburg "Gayety" Happening Rare Original Poster
Located in Sharon, CT
One of the original ephemeral Pop Art events of the 1960s, Claes Oldenburg's "Gayety" happening, is documented with this rare poster advertisement, and including a mimeo list of deta...
Category
1960s American Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
The New Moderns: From Late to Neo-Modernism - Charles Jencks - Academy, 1990
By Charles Jencks
Located in London, GB
Published by Academy Editions, 1990. Text by Charles Jencks.
A comprehensive analysis from one of the late 20th Century's great architects, Jencks explores the question: 'why has New Modern architecture emerged?' Having continuously discovered and conceptually formed new trends in architecture, here Jencks adds to his former definitions, Post- and Late-Modernism, through a comprehensive critical and amusing synthesis of major architects of the 20th century, including Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Ricardo Bofill...
Category
1990s British Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Paper
Rene Dumas Vintage Lucite Aubergine and Clear Sculptural Chess Players French
Located in North Miami, FL
The designer of these amazing vintage French Lucite modernist chess players from the 1970s are by Renee Dumas who is related to the Hermes family. They a...
Category
1970s French Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Lucite
Carousel Boat by L' Autopède, 1940s
By L'Autopède
Located in Antwerp, BE
Carousel boat by Atelier L' Autopède Belgium.
This merry-go-round hand-made metal boat is the first model of the first serie boats made by L' Autopède in...
Category
Mid-20th Century Belgian Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Metal
Modern collectibles and curiosities for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Modern collectibles and curiosities for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage collectibles and curiosities created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include more furniture and collectibles, decorative objects, tables and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, paper and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Modern collectibles and curiosities made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and North America pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original collectibles and curiosities, popular names associated with this style include Gufram Furniture, A$AP Rocky, dlsc, and Lladro. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for collectibles and curiosities differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7 and tops out at $96,443 while the average work can sell for $986.
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