Modern Conference 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Conference Tables
Maple, Oak, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Birch, Plywood, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Birch, Oak, Plywood
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
1990s Modern Conference Tables
Brass
1970s Slovenian Vintage Modern Conference Tables
Bronze
2010s German Modern Conference Tables
Steel, Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Birch, Oak, Plywood
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Birch, Walnut, Plywood
2010s Dutch Modern Conference Tables
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Polish Modern Conference Tables
Oak
2010s German Modern Conference Tables
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Conference Tables
Lucite
2010s German Modern Conference Tables
Steel, Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Walnut, Plywood, Birch
2010s Dutch Modern Conference Tables
Oak
2010s Dutch Modern Conference Tables
Oak
20th Century Italian Modern Conference Tables
Marble
2010s Indian Modern Conference Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Walnut, Maple, Oak
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Metal, Steel
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Walnut, Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Conference Tables
Hardwood
1980s Vintage Modern Conference Tables
Brass
2010s Modern Conference Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Conference Tables
Aluminum
2010s French Modern Conference Tables
Oak, Lacquer
2010s European Modern Conference Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Conference Tables
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Conference Tables
Metal
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Conference Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Conference Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Conference Tables
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Conference Tables
Travertine
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Marble
2010s German Modern Conference Tables
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Birch, Oak, Plywood
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Conference Tables
Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Conference Tables
Hardwood
2010s Italian Modern Conference Tables
Walnut, Plywood, Birch
2010s Canadian Modern Conference Tables
Hardwood
2010s British Modern Conference Tables
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Conference Tables
Glass, Corian
1970s American Vintage Modern Conference Tables
Granite, Steel, Chrome
Late 20th Century Modern Conference Tables
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Conference Tables
Composition, Metal, Chrome
1980s French Vintage Modern Conference Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Walnut
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Walnut, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Conference Tables
Carbon Fiber
2010s American Modern Conference Tables
Oak
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Conference Tables
Glass, Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Conference Tables
Brass