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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Danish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1990s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Leather, Wood, Lacquer
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
1960s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ceramic, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Marble, Carrara Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Shagreen Stingray
2010s Ukrainian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
2010s Mexican Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Walnut, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Travertine, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
2010s Danish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
2010s South African Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Lucite
2010s Spanish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Python
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Marble, Carrara Marble
1960s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ceramic
2010s Peruvian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s South African Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Copper
Late 20th Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Pine
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Birch
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Art Glass, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Granite, Marble, Carrara Marble, Brass, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Limestone, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Maple
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Brass
1980s Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Steel, Cut Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Resin, Epoxy Resin, Wood, Walnut
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plastic
2010s Greek Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Lacquer
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
2010s South African Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Foam, Polystyrene
20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Gold Leaf
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Mexican Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Poplar, Hardwood
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Polystyrene, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Marble