Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern American 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.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s 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, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests. The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influence 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.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century 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, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
21st Century and Contemporary Colombian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Leather
Mid-20th Century Russian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
2010s British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
Early 2000s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Polyester
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Polyester, Cotton
Mid-20th Century Uzbek Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Silk
Early 2000s Afghan Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool, Cotton, Natural Fiber, Organic Material
Mid-20th Century Russian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Linen, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Colombian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Leather
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool, Mohair
21st Century and Contemporary North American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Jute, Cotton, Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Mohair, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Colombian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Leather
2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s North American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Velvet
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Mohair
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Velvet, Down
2010s North American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Velvet
1990s Turkish Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool, Cotton, Natural Fiber, Organic Material
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Mohair, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Velvet, Feathers
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Linen, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Mohair, Foam
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Faux Leather
21st Century and Contemporary British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Silk
20th Century Ecuadorean Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Leather, Cowhide
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton
20th Century Chinese Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Linen
Early 2000s Afghan Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool, Cotton, Natural Fiber, Organic Material
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Linen, Polyester
Early 20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
Early 20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary North American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Sheepskin, Linen
2010s British Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
Mid-20th Century Moroccan Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Linen, Down, Feathers
Early 2000s Afghan Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool, Cotton, Natural Fiber, Organic Material
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Velvet
Early 2000s Afghan Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool, Cotton, Natural Fiber, Organic Material
Mid-20th Century Turkish Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Wool
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Fur
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Colombian Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Leather
2010s Mid-Century Modern Pillows and Throws
Fabric, Down, Feathers