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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Iron
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Bronze
1950s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Oak, Teak
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Bronze
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
Mid-20th Century Dutch Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Granite
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Carrara Marble, Onyx, Gold Leaf, Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1940s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Maple, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze, Metal
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Maple, Walnut
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Silver Leaf
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Aluminum
1950s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plexiglass, Scagliola
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fabric, Wood, Lacquer
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Mexican Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Blown Glass
2010s Argentine Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Metal
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Chinese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Other
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Cherry, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Fiberglass
1940s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plywood
1950s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Laminate, Walnut
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak, Walnut, Wood, Ash, Maple
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
1970s Brazilian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Copper, Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Laminate, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Lucite
2010s Hungarian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s Argentine Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
1970s Spanish Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Cement
2010s Balkan Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Onyx
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Acrylic, Wood, Oak, Walnut, Ash
2010s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Slate