Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe 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.
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 American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Laminate, Hardwood, Lacquer
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1970s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Teak
1950s North American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Lacquer
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Teak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Aluminum
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Steel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Leather, Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Mahogany, Plywood, Lacquer
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mahogany, Maple
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Oak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Teak
1930s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Chrome
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Marble
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wicker, Cane, Reed, Bentwood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Lacquer
1970s North American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Aluminum, Enamel
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Oak, Walnut
1970s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Teak
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Enamel, Chrome
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Porcelain, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Glass, Mirror
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Aluminum, Brass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mahogany
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Metal
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Teak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Birch