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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
2010s Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Bronze, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
1950s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Linen, Wood, Lacquer
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Travertine, Wrought Iron
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
2010s South African Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Other
Mid-20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stone, Travertine
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak, Lacquer
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Lucite
Early 2000s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Resin, Fiberglass
1970s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ceramic, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx, Marble
20th Century American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Slate, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Limestone, Travertine, Granite, Marble, Carrara Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Lebanese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Straw
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
2010s Chinese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Bronze
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Laminate, Maple
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Pewter
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Crystal, Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Wood
2010s Turkish Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood, Oak
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Zebra Hide
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Resin
1990s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Metal, Brass, Bronze
1960s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ceramic, Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Scagliola, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Onyx
1960s French Vintage Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Metal
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Concrete