Modern Cabinets
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Plastic
1980s Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Aluminum
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Glass, Mirror, Ash, Ebony, Burl
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood, Paint, Glass
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood, Lacquer, Parchment Paper
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Plastic, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Travertine
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Stainless Steel
1980s Vintage Modern Cabinets
Mirror
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Lacquer
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Laminate
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Cabinets
Rattan, Cut Glass, Oak
1930s French Vintage Modern Cabinets
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Glass, Plexiglass, Wood
20th Century Modern Cabinets
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Plastic
Late 20th Century American Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Plastic
20th Century British Modern Cabinets
Hardwood
1930s French Vintage Modern Cabinets
Chrome
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Plastic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Laminate
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Brass, Bronze
1980s North American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
1980s Belgian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Smoked Glass, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Laminate
1980s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Opaline Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Brass