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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Travertine
2010s Chinese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plywood, Lacquer
2010s North Korean Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fabric, Textile
2010s Danish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Resin, Epoxy Resin, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Gesso, Mirror
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
1980s Unknown Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Shell, Wood
2010s German Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Brazilian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Teak, Cane, Glass
1950s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Marble, Carrara Marble
1970s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
1990s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Crystal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Carrara Marble
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ash
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Maple, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Steel
2010s Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Marble
2010s Spanish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Mexican Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Marble
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Beech
1990s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Abalone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine
2010s Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Quartz, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Hardwood, Paint
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Other
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Bubinga
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut, Wood
2010s German Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Argentine Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
2010s Mexican Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Poplar, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Mirror
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine