Modern Sideboards
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s Italian Modern Sideboards
Aluminum
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Rosewood, Down
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Aluminum
1970s European Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood, Elm
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Sideboards
Rosewood, Sycamore
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Brass
1990s Spanish Modern Sideboards
Metal
1910s American Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Sideboards
Chrome
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood
1940s French Vintage Modern Sideboards
Travertine
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Sideboards
Brass
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Sideboards
Marble, Brass
Early 1900s Italian Antique Modern Sideboards
Wood
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Sideboards
Travertine, Brass
Mid-20th Century Modern Sideboards
Travertine, Chrome
1980s Vintage Modern Sideboards
Metal
1960s French Vintage Modern Sideboards
Oak
20th Century American Modern Sideboards
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Granite
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Metal, Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Steel
1980s French Vintage Modern Sideboards
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Sideboards
Brass
20th Century Italian Modern Sideboards
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Sideboards
Wood, Lacquer
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood
1990s American Modern Sideboards
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Glass, Wood, Lacquer
20th Century Italian Modern Sideboards
Lucite, Plexiglass, Glass
20th Century English Modern Sideboards
Mahogany, Teak
20th Century Singaporean Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1970s Czech Vintage Modern Sideboards
Mahogany, Walnut
Late 20th Century Modern Sideboards
Wood
20th Century North American Modern Sideboards
Brass
1990s American Modern Sideboards
Glass, Laminate
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Brass
1940s French Vintage Modern Sideboards
Amboyna
1970s French Vintage Modern Sideboards
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Oak
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Marble, Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Sideboards
Acrylic
20th Century English Modern Sideboards
Yew
1990s Italian Modern Sideboards
Brass
20th Century Chinese Modern Sideboards
Teak
1980s American Vintage Modern Sideboards
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Modern Sideboards
Oak
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood
20th Century Danish Modern Sideboards
Wood, Ash
20th Century English Modern Sideboards
Walnut
1980s American Vintage Modern Sideboards
Steel
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Sideboards
Teak
Late 20th Century Modern Sideboards
Glass, Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sideboards
Wood