Modern Furniture
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 19th Century European Antique Modern Furniture
Brass
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Late 19th Century German Antique Modern Furniture
Beech
1880s Indian Antique Modern Furniture
Wool
1870s French Antique Modern Furniture
Metal
1880s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Murano Glass
1850s French Antique Modern Furniture
Paper
Late 19th Century English Antique Modern Furniture
Silver Plate
1850s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Rattan
1890s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Brass
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Mid-19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Marble
19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Carrara Marble
19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Carrara Marble
Late 19th Century Spanish Antique Modern Furniture
Porcelain
1860s French Antique Modern Furniture
Paper
19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Gold Leaf
1880s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Brass
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Late 19th Century Antique Modern Furniture
Steel
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
19th Century Antique Modern Furniture
Canvas
19th Century Antique Modern Furniture
Brass
Mid-19th Century British Antique Modern Furniture
Silver
Late 19th Century Spanish Antique Modern Furniture
Mirror, Wood
Late 19th Century European Antique Modern Furniture
Fabric, Wood
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Late 19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Bronze
Late 19th Century Persian Antique Modern Furniture
Wool
Late 19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Bronze
1880s Antique Modern Furniture
Animal Skin, Ultrasuede
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Copper, Pewter
19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Wood, Paper
19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Metal
19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Canvas, Wood, Paint, Giltwood
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Terracotta
19th Century English Antique Modern Furniture
Porcelain
1880s Swedish Antique Modern Furniture
Steel
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Wood
1870s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Bronze
19th Century Belgian Antique Modern Furniture
Wood, Paper
1880s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Murano Glass
1870s North American Antique Modern Furniture
Marble
1880s American Antique Modern Furniture
Wood, Paper
19th Century Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Porcelain
1890s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Metal
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Furniture
Steel
19th Century Spanish Antique Modern Furniture
Plastic
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Furniture
Steel
19th Century French Antique Modern Furniture
Crystal
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Furniture
Steel
19th Century English Antique Modern Furniture
Silver Plate
Late 19th Century Swedish Antique Modern Furniture
Stoneware
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Furniture
Steel
19th Century Antique Modern Furniture
Silver Leaf