Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s French Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Concrete, Metal
2010s French Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Concrete, Metal
2010s French Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Concrete, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Marble, Steel
2010s American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Marble, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Marble, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Brass
2010s Canadian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Resin
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Crystal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Oak
1970s French Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Lucite, Glass
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Steel
Mid-19th Century British Antique Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Iron
1940s French Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Brass
1960s American Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Maple
Late 20th Century American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Mahogany
1970s American Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Oak, Walnut
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Teak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century French Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Steel
1970s European Vintage Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Aluminum
Late 20th Century American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Nickel
2010s Czech Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Clay
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Limestone
2010s American Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Glass, Wood
Mid-20th Century Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Organic Material, Wood
2010s French Modern Card Tables and Tea Tables
Slate