Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Early 1900s Spanish Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Plaster, Wood
Early 1900s Spanish Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Plaster, Wood
Early 1900s Israeli Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Copper, Silver, Brass
1880s British Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Paper
Early 1900s English Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Paper
1920s English Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century German Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Metal
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Bronze
1940s British Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Bamboo
20th Century Luxembourgish Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Porcelain
Late 19th Century French Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Metal, Silver
1960s French Vintage Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Bamboo
Early 20th Century French Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Gold, Enamel
1890s American Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Paper
1810s British Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Silver, Sterling Silver
Early 1900s Czech Antique Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Metal