Modern Coffee and Cocktail 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
Mid-20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
1980s British Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Agate, Marble
Late 20th Century Belgian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1990s Japanese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Murano Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Paint, Python
Late 20th Century European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1970s Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bamboo, Rattan, Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass, Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze, Pewter
20th Century European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1970s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Walnut
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Goatskin, Wood, Lacquer
1970s Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Lacquer, Paint
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, PVC, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1960s North American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
20th Century English Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Composition
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass
1940s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Limestone, Brass, Wrought Iron
1960s Unknown Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Leather, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Chrome
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Goatskin, Wood, Lacquer
20th Century North American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Chrome
1970s German Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1930s Swedish Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Enamel
1980s German Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
20th Century European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
Late 18th Century Portuguese Antique Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Mahogany
1970s Brazilian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Copper, Chrome
1990s Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Metal
1970s North American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fabric, Glass
Late 20th Century North American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Marble
1940s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome