Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

MID-CENTURY MODERN STYLE

Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern 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.

ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Emerged during the mid-20th century
Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
A heyday of innovation in postwar America
Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe

CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
Promotion of functionality

MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

Charles and Ray Eames
Eero Saarinen
Milo Baughman
Florence Knoll
Harry Bertoia
Isamu Noguchi
George Nelson
Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa

ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s 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 pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.

Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.

Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.

The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.

As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture 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, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.

As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.

Style: Mid-Century Modern

1950s beechwood sideboard cabinet

Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

1950s beechwood sideboard cabinet

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

70s dresser with mirror

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

50s-60s Furniture

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Sideboard 'Torbecchia' by Giovanni Michelucci for Poltronova Anni 60-70

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

50's Sideboard Cabinet

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

50s-60s Furniture Buffet

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

50s-60s Furniture Bar

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

'Torbecchia' cabinet by Giovanni Michelucci for Poltronova 1960s-70s

1920s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile Vetrina Anni 20-30

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

50s-60s Wardrobe Cabinet

1920s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Furniture Buffet Years 20-30

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Grande Mobile Espositore Anni 50

1920s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile Armadio Anni 20-30

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile Armadio Anni 50

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Dresser with mirror Years 50-60

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

CSS library by George Nelson for ICF De Padua 1960s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile contenitore Consorzio Esposizione Mobili Cantù Anni 60

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

1960s Sideboard

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile Credenza Anni 50-60

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Libreria Anni 50-60

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

1960s walnut sideboard cabinet

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile buffet Anni 70-80 in radica di noce

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Sideboard Anni 60 in teak, ottone

1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Roberto Monsani 'Life' Bookcase for Acerbis, 1980s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Sideboard Anni 60 in teak e ottone

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile a giorno Anni 50

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

50's Furniture Bar

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

English 1960s teak sideboard

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Libreria Formanova Anni 60

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

70s-80s bookcase cabinet in ash and glass

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

70s Furniture Buffet

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Mobile di Silvio Coppola per Bernini Anni 60-70 in noce

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Coppia di Librerie Anni 50 in pioppo tinto

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

60s Feal Bookstore

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

1960s wood and metal bookcase

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Small 1950s sideboard in stained oak

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Libreria Zibaldone di Carlo Scarpa per Bernini Anni 70-80 in noce

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

1950s oak filing cabinet

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Sideboard Anni 60, in teak e ottone

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets