Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
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.
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Mirror, Maple, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Palisander
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wood
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Rattan, Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass, Steel
20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Iron
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Art Glass, Wood
1940s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Walnut
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Metal
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Formica, Plywood
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Metal
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Burl, Walnut
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Chrome, Silver
1950s Mexican Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1950s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Aluminum
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Upholstery, Mirror, Lucite
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wicker, Rattan, Glass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Walnut
1970s Portuguese Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Leather, Laminate, Mahogany
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Bentwood
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Oak
1960s Brazilian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Rosewood, Formica
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Wood, Parchment Paper
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Porcelain, Glass, Milk Glass, Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Bamboo, Wicker, Formica
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Aluminum, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary French Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wood
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Teak, Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wood, Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Goatskin
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Steel, Chrome
1970s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Wood
1960s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Mahogany
1970s Unknown Vintage Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
Brass, Metal