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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Crystal, Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Laminate
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
1970s Mexican Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass, Copper, Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Python
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Stainless Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Leather
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Crystal, Metal
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Cut Glass, Murano Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plastic
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Chrome
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
Late 20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Bronze
Late 20th Century Dutch Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Chrome
Late 20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Giltwood
Late 20th Century European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Chrome
20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Nickel
20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Brass
20th Century Spanish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Iron, Brass
20th Century Colombian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bone
1990s Belgian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Teak
Late 20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Mid-20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Steel
20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood, Paint
1970s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
20th Century Belgian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1990s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Sandstone
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1990s German Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plastic, Acrylic, Wood
20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Iron
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Platinum
1970s North American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Granite, Steel
1980s Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Lucite
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plastic
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Linen, Wood, Lacquer
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1990s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
1960s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome, Stainless Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Granite, Steel
1960s Indian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Teak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass