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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
1990s German Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Ash, Maple, Walnut
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plywood, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century Czech Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Maple, Pine
2010s Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Marble
2010s Ukrainian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Chinese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Marble, Carrara Marble, Statuary Marble
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Sheet Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plexiglass
2010s Egyptian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
1950s Dutch Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Mahogany, Oak
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Linen, Mirror
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Chrome
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Stainless Steel, Bronze
20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1980s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Goatskin
2010s Mexican Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Other
Late 20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
2010s Moroccan Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fabric, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Mirror, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
2010s South African Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Crystal, Brass
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Granite, Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
1950s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum, Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Leather
1970s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
2010s Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Gesso, Mirror
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Acrylic, Fir, Walnut, Oak, Wood