Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
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.
1950s Spanish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Chrome
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Bamboo, Rattan
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Upholstery, Lucite
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Bouclé, Upholstery, Walnut
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Walnut, Naugahyde
1950s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1960s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s Asian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Wood
2010s Slovenian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Oak
1970s British Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Pine
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Zinc
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Rattan, Fabric, Bamboo
1950s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Rush, Pine
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Wood
2010s Slovenian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Oak
1960s Finnish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Wood
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Walnut
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
1660s Antique Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Bamboo
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Oak, Walnut, Leather
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Wood, Fabric
1950s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Teak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Aluminum
1950s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Beech, Ash
Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Beech, Boxwood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Brass
Late 20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Rattan
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fiberglass
1970s Norwegian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Rosewood
1950s North American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Rosewood
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Plywood
1960s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Sheepskin, Beech
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Chrome
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Oak, Walnut
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Birch
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Slovenian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Plywood, Sheepskin, Beech
1960s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Beech
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Teak, Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Imbuia
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Wood, Walnut
1960s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Rattan
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
1950s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
Beech, Rope, Wood