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Modern Stools

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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 chaircrafted 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.

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Style: Modern
Color:  Blue
Color:  Orange
Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Corn and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Corn and Black
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Vigo Plantain and Black
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Smooth 72 and Black
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Smooth 72 and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Barcelona Lotus and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Barcelona Lotus and Black
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Boucle Snow and Black
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Vigo Blossom and Black
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado Bar and Counter Stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Paris Lavanda and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Smooth 60 and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Teal and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Paris Safira and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Paris Mouse and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Chiado Bar Stool, Indigo Leather with Aluminium and White
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The Chiado bar and counter stools are comfortable stools with inviting curves and a comfortable soft seating. The Stools have a fully upholstered backrest and elegant metal legs. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Velvet, Faux Leather, Wood

Circular Bar Stool in Satin Brass and Leather Designed by Craig Bassam
Located in Ridgefield, CT
The elegance and simplicity of the Circular Table collection extends to a casual seat. A sturdy but agile floating presence is created by the stool’s base, made from circular sect...
Category

2010s Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Set of 2, Tria Stool, High Back, Upholstered Wool, Orange by Colé Italia
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2, Tria stool, high back, upholstered wool, orange by Colé Italia with Lorenz & Kaz Dimensions: H.seat 67/77 (H.105/115) x D.52 x W.48 cm Materials: Upholstered Stool with ...
Category

2010s Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Upholstery, Oak, Walnut, Plywood

Jasper Morrison Large Hi Pad Stool in Fabric or Leather Upholstery by Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
The Hi pad chair, and accompanying Hi pad Stool, are the result of a production process that represents the perfect balance between technology and artisan...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Foam, Beech, Plywood

Kartell Eur Stool in Earth Red by Fabio Novembre
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The EUR stool by Fabio Novembre is a cube printed with shapes and geometries inspired, to scale, by Italian rationalist architecture of the 1930s and 1940s. The stool can be multi-pu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Plastic

Kartell Stone Stool in Amber by Marcel Wanders
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Stone is a stool with a simple shape but with a very precious appearance. Made with an essential symmetrical linear shape which is reminiscent of an hourglass, its surface is simply ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Plastic

Contemporary block arch stool side table, blue stained oak wood, Belgian design
Located in Antwerp, Antwerp
Arch 01.1 is a stool or a side table with a clear design language. What looks like a static element quickly becomes much more dynamic when in use by someone sitting on it. The curve ...
Category

2010s Belgian Modern Stools

Materials

Oak

Pelleossa Stool in Orange Fabric with Canaletto Walnut Legs by Francesco Faccin
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Inspired by some of the great classics of italian designs, pre-industrial times, it is built with traditional materials and an unique technology, the lathe. The name evokes its simpl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric

Modern Stool & Sidetable 'Tripy' Designed by Laurent Dif, Spain, 2000
Located in Madrid, ES
"Tripy" Orange stool, made of lacquered metal. "Tripy" is the first creation for the general public by the french designer Laurent Dif. True to its “Just one piece” concept, this se...
Category

Early 2000s Spanish Modern Stools

Materials

Metal

Jasper Morrison Small Hi Pad Stool in Fabric or Leather Upholstery by Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
The Hi pad chair, and accompanying Hi pad Stool, are the result of a production process that represents the perfect balance between technology and artisan...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Foam, Beech, Plywood

Modern Stool & Sidetable "Tripy" Designed by Laurent Dif, Spain, 2000
Located in Madrid, ES
"Tripy" Blue stool, made of lacquered metal. "Tripy" is the first creation for the general public by the french designer Laurent Dif. True to its “Just one piece” concept, this seat ...
Category

Early 2000s Spanish Modern Stools

Materials

Metal

Circular Stool in Bronze and Leather Designed by Craig Bassam
Located in Ridgefield, CT
The elegance and simplicity of the circular table collection extends to a casual seat. A sturdy but agile floating presence is created by the stool’s base, made from circular sect...
Category

2010s Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Set of Modern Bar Stools
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Set of (5) sleek contemporary blue bar stools. These chairs feature contoured back rests, tall metal legs and foot rests. If you have a bar or high tab...
Category

20th Century Modern Stools

Materials

Metal

Emeco Broom Barstool in Orange by Philippe Starck
Located in Hanover, PA
Philippe Starck and Emeco came together to create a new chair that is reclaimed, repurposed, recyclable – and designed to last. The chair is made from 75% waste polypropylene and 15%...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Stools

Materials

Aluminum

Dedo High Stool in Steel Lacquer Legs, Wooden Seat, by Miniforms Lab
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Here you are shown the Dedo high stool in lacquered steel legs with beechwood seat. This stool with an ergonomic seat is in solid beech and steel structure lacquered in 9 colors. The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Set of 2 Kartell Charles Ghost Large Stools in Amber by Philippe Starck
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The shape conjures up stools of the 1800s and the line of the legs is rounded and slightly upturned, an icon of the classic high stool. Charles Ghost is ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Plastic

Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH Trio Bar Stool in Ocean Blue
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Martino Gamper suggests a new reading of the concept of informal seat, with the stool TRIO, available in two heights, Trio alto and Trio basso. The tripod structure plays with the brand’s icons, proposing bent wooden elements of different angles, recalling the geometry of the triangle. Three sections of the offset semicircle define the linking support of legs, which holds a triangular seat...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Stools

Materials

Wood

Contemporary Identity Stool in Cerulean Blue Lacquer
Located in London, GB
Identity Stool joins the series of Jimena Montemayor's unique design works, as an individual version of her 'Identity Bench', debuted this year at Salon Cosa's 3rd Edition in Mexico City Art...
Category

2010s Mexican Modern Stools

Materials

Wood

Jasper Morrison Tate Stool in Beech Plywood with Matte Lacquer for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
Easy to stack – to a maximum of 6 pieces – the Tate chair designed by Jasper Morrison is part of a range that includes chairs and stools. This series has a ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Beech, Plywood

Steph Leapfrog Chair
Located in Milan, IT
This unique, whimsical and Minimalist stool in the shape of a saddle is inspired by the world of horses and equestrian sports. It features hand stitching, a one-of-a-kind fragrance, ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Leather

Wood Frame Bar Stool in Walnut and Leather Designed by Craig Bassam
Located in Ridgefield, CT
The BassamFellows Wood Frame Collection has become one of the brand’s classic signatures. Adding to the collection are upholstered dining chairs and upholstered stools. The Woo...
Category

2010s American Modern Stools

Materials

Leather, Wood

Kartell Roy Stool in Blue by Alessandro Mendini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A Chinese-style stool featuring a pattern in homage to Roy Lichtenstein with the dots from his paintings. Available in White, Black, Powder, Blue & Petroleum.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Plastic

Kartell Masters Bar Stool in Rust Orange by Philippe Starck & Eugeni Quitllet
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Kartell also offers a stool version of the Masters chair, winner of the Good Design Award 2010 and the Red Dot Award 2013 and a worldwide best seller. The legs are lengthened and the seat is shrunk, but the frame's unmistakable graphic look, created by the weave of the silhouettes of three iconic chairs, remains the same. Masters stool...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Plastic

Manhattan Cube Side Table/ Stool, Turquoise, 21st Century by Margit Wittig
Located in London, GB
The Manhattan cube is a deceptively simple side table, created by artist-designer Margit Wittig that can double up as a sculptural seat. It replicates ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Stools

Materials

Epoxy Resin

Tubby Tube Counter Stool with Wooden Seat by Faye Toogood
Located in Brooklyn, NY
With a recognizable tubular approach, the Tubby Tube stool collection build on the same design language as Faye Toogood’s iconic Spade chair. “Tubby yet ele...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Kartell Roy Stool in Petroleum by Alessandro Mendini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A Chinese-style stool featuring a pattern in homage to Roy Lichtenstein with the dots from his paintings. Available in white, black, powder, blue & petroleum.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Plastic

Patricia Urquiola Knitted Stool in Wool for GAN
Located in New York, NY
Craft, innovation, warmth, joy... Claire-Anne´s stools have everything we like. They ´re magical! Materials: ashwood frame, upholstered with hand knitted new wool.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Stools

Materials

Wool

Circular Stool in Gunmetal and Leather Designed by Craig Bassam
Located in Ridgefield, CT
The elegance and simplicity of the Circular Table Collection extends to a casual seat. A sturdy but agile floating presence is created by the stool’s base, made from circular sect...
Category

2010s Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Set of 2 Kartell Charles Ghost Medium Stools in Powder Blue by Philippe Starck
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The shape conjures up stools of the 1800s and the line of the legs is rounded and slightly upturned, an icon of the classic high stool. Charles Ghost is constructed from a single blo...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Crystal

Brogliato Traverso Newood Barstool in Solid Ashwood Structure for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
The result of a contemporary re-interpretation of the timeless charm of Windsor-style chairs. Newood chairs and stools express the successful harmony between technologically advanced...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Stainless Steel

Three Blue Barstools with Leather Seats, Legs Powder Coated
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Iron and leather barstools set freshly powder coated in soft Tiffany-blue. These modern stools have just been kicked up a notch with cheeky blue tall slender legs. The stitched leather top is a perfect warm contrast. Comfortable with clean lines, these stools will work well in modern, industrial...
Category

1980s American Vintage Modern Stools

Materials

Iron

Contemporary Plain Clay Bar Stool by Maarten Baas
Located in Warsaw, PL
This bar stool comes from Maarten Baas’s Plain Clay collection. This collection was originally developed for the Mendini restaurant in the Groninger Museum. Unlike the Clay Series...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Stools

Materials

Metal

Gandia Blasco Textile High Stool in Steel by Ana Llobet
Located in New York, NY
This collection of outdoor furniture is inspired by fashion. Designed by Ana Llobet, Textile transfers the patterns of garments to a series of outdoor furniture with it own personali...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Gandia Blasco Textile Stool with Backrest in Steel by Ana Llobet
Located in New York, NY
Textile is a line of outdoor furniture, designed by Ana Llobet, based on an original and surprising concept: transferring garment sewing techniques to the world of outdoor furniture....
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Brogliato Traverso Newood Light Bar Stool in Solid Ashwood for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
BrogliatoTraverso studio has continued to amplify its celebrated family, inspired by classic Windsor chairs, this time in two ultra-light versions: Newood Light chair and Newood Ligh...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Stainless Steel

Jasper Morrison Tate Stool Upholstered in Fabric or Leather for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
Easy to stack – to a maximum of 6 pieces – the Tate chair designed by Jasper Morrison is part of a range that includes chairs and stools. This series has a ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Foam, Beech, Plywood

Plopp Mini Stool in Water Blue Steel by Zieta
Located in New York, NY
Plopp stool is an icon and a bestseller of Zieta Prozessdesign. The unique, toy-looking and playful shape of Plopp is an effect of an innovative forming method FIDU. FIDU technology ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Polish Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Moooi Monster Diamond High Barstool in Hallingdal 65 by Marcel Wanders Studio
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A soft, puffy and stylish barstool as symbol of the eternal battle between opposite forces that take place in life and can be easily recognized inside ourselves, if we have the coura...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Stools

Materials

Upholstery

GUFRAM Mozza Stool & Chair by Giuseppe Raimondi
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Designed in 1968 by Giuseppe Raimondi, Mozza maintains the same vibrant revolutionary appeal and ability to adapt to countless living needs. Rendered in its present edition in a sexier and slimmer form, Mozza is an upturned truncated and athwart-cut cone on which it would seem impossible to sit. By lying back on its sloping surface of sort polyurethane, though, its structure gives in to body weight until it acquires the shape of a chair with back- and armrests. It's simple but original structural magic that makes it one of a kind. Mozza's external mass misleads you. Thanks to its lightness, this seat becomes a nomadic and versatile object in the living landscape. The primary seat for the sitting-room at home or the perfect service armchair in the sophisticated and elegant halls of design hotels, Mozza combines the international contemporary style with the characters of the Italian radical design, highlighted by the variety of its contemporary and pop upholstery colours. ABSTRACT Designed in 1968 by Giuseppe Raimondi, Mozza is an upturned truncated and athwart-cut cone on which it would seem impossible to sit. By lying back on its sloping surface of sort polyurethane, though, its structure gives in to body weight until it acquires the shape of a chair with back- and armrests. It's simple but original structural magic that makes it one of a kind. Mozza's external mass misleads you. Thanks to its lightness, this seat becomes a nomadic and versatile object in the living landscape. TECHICAL INFO Seat of soft polyurethane covered with cloth. Ø 85x80 cm, 9 Kg Ø 33,5x31,5 in, 20 lb DID YOU KNOW 1. It's one of the first projects by Gufram – born at the beginning of its activity. 2. It was designed by the first Artistic Director of the brand – Giuseppe Raimondi. 3. Mozza's sloping plane becomes soft when weight is set on it, and it allows you to comfortably sink in it. 4. Mozzo de-constructs the traditional...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Fabric, Resin

Emeco Broom Counter Stool in Orange by Philippe Starck
Located in Hanover, PA
Philippe Starck and Emeco came together to create a new chair that is reclaimed, repurposed, recyclable – and designed to last. The chair is made from 75% waste polypropylene and 15%...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Stools

Materials

Aluminum

Set of 3 Contemporary Kitchen Counter Barstool Brass Metal & Tobacco Tan Leather
Located in Alcoy, Alicante
HUG counter stool aged brass steel and vegetable tanned natural tobacco leather The HUG counter stool is designed and conceived with a light aesthetic, the slight oscillation of the...
Category

2010s Spanish Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Moooi Monster Naked Low Barstool in Divina 3, 742 by Marcel Wanders Studio
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A soft, puffy and stylish barstool as symbol of the eternal battle between opposite forces that take place in life and can be easily recognized inside ourselves, if we have the coura...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Stools

Materials

Upholstery

Gandia Blasco Textile Low Stool in Steel by Ana Llobet
Located in New York, NY
Textile extrapolates the world of fashion to outdoor furniture. This collection of outdoor furniture is inspired by the patterns of garments. Designed by Ana Llobet, It adapts to you...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Stools

Materials

Steel

Brogliato Traverso Newood Light Stool in Solid Ashwood for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
BrogliatoTraverso studio has continued to amplify its celebrated family, inspired by Classic Windsor chairs, this time in two ultra-light versions: Newood Light chair and Newood Ligh...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools

Materials

Foam, Ash, Beech

Modern stools for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Modern stools for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original stools, popular names associated with this style include Jover + Valls, Emeco, Jasper Morrison, and Kartell. 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.

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