Modern Blanket Chests
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Blanket Chests
Hardwood, Mahogany
2010s Danish Modern Blanket Chests
Oak, Walnut
20th Century English Modern Blanket Chests
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Blanket Chests
Steel
19th Century English Antique Modern Blanket Chests
Leather, Oak
Late 19th Century English Antique Modern Blanket Chests
Zinc
1950s American Vintage Modern Blanket Chests
Mahogany
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Blanket Chests
Plastic
20th Century American Modern Blanket Chests
Walnut, Cedar
Mid-20th Century American Modern Blanket Chests
Mahogany, Cedar
1960s American Vintage Modern Blanket Chests
Brass
Late 19th Century Antique Modern Blanket Chests
Metal
Late 19th Century Chinese Antique Modern Blanket Chests
Brass, Iron
Early 20th Century Spanish Modern Blanket Chests
Iron
1960s Vintage Modern Blanket Chests
Steel
1960s Vintage Modern Blanket Chests
Wood, Cedar
20th Century English Modern Blanket Chests
Mother-of-Pearl, Mahogany