Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MID-CENTURY MODERN STYLE
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Emerged during the mid-20th century
- Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
- A heyday of innovation in postwar America
- Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
- A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
- Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
- Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
- Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
- Promotion of functionality
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
- Charles and Ray Eames
- Eero Saarinen
- Milo Baughman
- Florence Knoll
- Harry Bertoia
- Isamu Noguchi
- George Nelson
- Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa
ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS
- Eames lounge chair
- Nelson daybed
- Florence Knoll sofa
- Egg chair
- Womb chair
- Noguchi coffee table
- Barcelona chair
VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.
Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.
Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.
Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
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Style: Mid-Century Modern
1940s Paul Frankl Eight-Drawer Desk Art Deco Style By Johnson Furniture Co.
Located in Miami, FL
Rare Paul Frankl designed eight-drawer desk for the Johnson Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Re-furbished and newly lacquered cork top, in a satin lacquer white finish.
Body of desk also mahogany brown finish. Handles appear to be Bakelite, with brass brackets, also newly polished.
Exposed concave cut-out to center back of desk for storing books, much like a sculptural effect of a Sol LeWitt or Donald Judd floating square cut-outs piece of art and we say art, because it is an art form to pull off stunning design, with function as the forefront to any furniture, as the body floating has an ethereal quality. As does the body of the desk prove...
Category
1940s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Bamboo and polished nickel desk
Located in New York, NY
Bamboo and polished nickel two drawer desk with smoked glass top.
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Nickel
Vintage Embossed Leather Desk by Karl Springer
Located in North Hollywood, CA
An elegant vintage leather desk designed by iconic designer Karl Springer in the United States in the 1970s. This desk stands out for its minimalist design. It has 2 large drawers that are great for storing documents and office supplies...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather, Wood
Charlotte Perriand Marble Center Table à Plateau Interchangeable by Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Table designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1937. Relaunched in 2020.
Manufactured by Cassina in Italy.
The first model of this historic design table was crafted in 1937 for Charlotte P...
Category
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Mid Century Burl Top Writing Table
Located in Westwood, NJ
Slender lines form a light and airy design in this modern table. A graceful combination of burl wood in a warm brown polished finish atop an organic faux bois base in a satin bronze ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Metal
$4,407 / item
Solid pine desk from the 60's Charlotte Perriand style - G314
Located in Ternay, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
60's style desk in the taste of Charlotte Perriand's work. Solid pine structure, sober and pure design. Nice vintage condition, note a scratch on one side ...
Category
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Pine
Custom Genuine Watersnake Python Writing Desk with Stainless Steel X Band Base
By Venfield
Located in New York, NY
Customizable options:
Finish textile size hardware.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Stainless Steel
Mid-Century Modern Faux Wood Laminate Writing Desk
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mid-Century Modern Faux Wood Laminate Writing Desk. Designed to bring a timeless appeal to any home office or study, its clean lines, warm wood tones, and minimalist silhouette exude...
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Laminate
Direk Desk by Ennio Chiggio for Nikol International, 1979
Located in Delft, NL
Direk desk by Ennio Chiggio for Nikol International, 1979.
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Plywood
1960s Bureau, AEJM Møbler
Located in Neuss, NW
Classic bureau from the 1960s. High-quality corpus in teak veneer with hinged writing surface, two internal drawers, three compartments, two large drawers and square wood legs.
Qual...
Category
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Teak
Desk from NYC Reclaimed Water Tower Wood, Drawers with Hand Turned Ebony Pulls
By Stefan Rurak
Located in Biddeford, ME
This desk utilizes wood salvaged from NYC City water towers. This wood is extremely resilient and is now given a second life. Solid redwood is used for the top and drawer faces. Soli...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut, Ebony
Mid-Century Modern Italian Blue Desk, Drawers, 1940s
Located in Brussels, BE
Mid-Century Modern Italian Blue Desk, Drawers, 1940s
Category
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Cerused White Wash Oak Drop Front Secretary Desk Bookcase Credenza
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Multi use limed oak credenza with built in drop front secretary. Beautiful large and heavy circular ring shape hardware.
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak
Four drawer lacquered wood panel desk
By Gio Ponti
Located in New York, NY
Four drawer wood desk with ivory lacquered drawers and angular legs in the style of Gio Ponti.
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Mid Century Modern Model T333 desk by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno
By Tecno
Located in London, GB
Model T333 desk produced in 1975 from a design by Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Geri and manufctured by Tecno. The top is black lacquered walnut with an inset area of black leather. There are two minimal slim drawers, perfect for storage of pens etc and polished cast aluminium legs. with black trim. Manufacturer's label to side.
This large and impressive desk with its minimal, sophisticated design would work well in both a modern or contemporary home.
Literature: Giam Piero Bosoni, T
Tecno L'eleganza discreta della tecnico, was established in 1953 the twin brothers Osvaldo and Fulgenzio Borsani with the goal of developing their father’s furniture company, Arredamenti Borsani, using the industrial process for the manufacturing of modern furniture. The history of the company goes back to the early 1920s, when woodworker and upholsterer Gaetano Borsani founded Atelier Borsani Varedo (later called Arredamenti Borsani Varedo) in Varedo, Italy.
In spite of Arredamenti Borsani’s traditional approach, Osvaldo, designed the modernist Casa Minima furniture collection, while still attending architecture school at Accademia di Brera, and he won the silver medal at the V Triennale di Milano in 1933. Osvaldo’s ongoing involvement at the atelier continued to grow as he designed and built modernist furniture for the wealthy Milanese society.
In 1954, a year after Tecno’s founding, the company unveiled its first factory-produced collection of sofas, chairs and tables and received accolades at the X Triennale di Milano. That same year, Osvaldo created the adjustable D70 sofa bed, which became an instant commercial success, and in 1956 he launched the P40 lounge chair, an adjustable reclining chair...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
Carrara Marble Console Table with Chrome Legs by Vittorio Introini, Italy, 1970s
Located in London, GB
An elegant oval shaped versatile console table which can easily become a desk and/or a small dining table Chrome rounded legs base.
Measures: L 195cm
W 70cm.
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Carrara Marble, Chrome
Postmodern 'Martino' Dining Table by Gigi Sabadin for Emme, Italy, 1973
By Gigi Sabadin, Emme
Located in Antwerp, BE
Gigi Sabadin dining table, Emme Italy, 1970s, beechwood
The table show smart architectural lines and well-considered use of materials, which are clearly visible in the little det...
Category
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Glass, Beech
1950s Television table/desk from Televise
By Teleavia
Located in London, Lambeth
Super Stylist table originally used for vintage TV easily re used as a desk
angled black legs with polished oak surface sitting on castors make it easy
for mobility. Cc Italian
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak
Kaizo Oto Design Institute of America DIA Dining Table Chrome Brass Geometric
By Kaizo Oto
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Uncommon Vintage Design Institute of America DIA Kaizo Oto dining table base. Glass is not included. A mix of metals including brass, chrome, gunmetal...
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Chrome, Steel
1940s Italian Writing Desk in Ash and Brass
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Writing desk, ash, brass, Italy, 1940s
Made in Italy, this writing desk is a testament to the design ethos prevalent in the 1940s and 1950s. The office table bears witness to the de...
Category
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Teak Desk by Ilmari Tapiovaara, around 1960
Located in Berlin, DE
Ilmari Tapiovaara (1914-1999), a Finnish interior architect and designer, designed this desk around 1960 for ‘La Permanente di Cantú’.
Made from solid teak with brass details. The de...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Elefante Desk 6 Optimal for Professional Use, Made of Wood
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Elefante Desk 6 Optimal for Professional Use, Made of Wood
—
Introduction: Crafting Elegance with a Modernist Touch
NONO, renowned for its decade-long journey in redefining everyd...
Category
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood, Hardwood, Oak
Rare Arne Jacobsen Desk
Located in Munich, DE
Rare Arne Jacobsen desk designed in 1955. Wonderful grain.
Category
1950s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
$7,696
Rare Flush Front Burled Walnut Campaign Desk in the syle of Milo Baughman
Located in Pemberton, NJ
A very fine Campaign desk by West Michigan Furniture, in the style of Milo Baughman, in burled walnut, X-base legs with bronze finish. Unlike other models, this design features drawe...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Williams Hairpin Writing Desk Maple Black
Located in Cincinnati, US
A thin, elegant and light desk that can be customized to any color desired. This handcrafted item perfectly blends industrial hairpin legs with a beveled wooden top. The irregular be...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Steel
$840 / item
Lucite Base Faux Snake Skin Sculptural Shape One-Drawer Writing Table Desk
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Mid-Century Modern sculptural futuristic shape desk writing table with one drawer. Kagan Space Age attribution influence.
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Faux Leather, Lucite
Desk with tilting top 1960s
Located in SAN PIETRO MOSEZZO, NO
Desk with tilting top dating from the 1960s, which belonged to an architectural firm.
Black lacquered tubular iron frame with height-adjustable brass feet.
Wooden chest of drawers ...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Iron
German Mid-Century Modern Cantilevered Wood and Metal Desk by Voss, 1950
By Voss
Located in New York, NY
Elegant German modernist desk / writing table by Voss with a cantilevered wood top and three wood drawers on each side supported by four black metal le...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brazilian Modern Desk in Hardwood with File Cabinet, Jorge Zalszupin, 1960s
Located in New York, NY
Available today, this desk with a file cabinet, designed by Jorge Zalszupin and produced by his company L’Atelier in the 1960s, highlights an innovative approach to Brazilian rosewoo...
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Hardwood
$9,600 Sale Price
20% Off
Wade Beam For Brueton "Ponte" Credenza in High-Gloss Blue/Gray
By J. Wade Beam, Brueton
Located in Dallas, TX
Newly restored "Ponte" credenza by Wade Beam for Brueton. This exquisite piece is refinished in a high-gloss blue/gray lacquer with chrome trim, embodying the timeless elegance and s...
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Chrome
Simple Modern Desk, Reclaimed Oak and Walnut
Located in Oak Harbor, OH
Sorry, we are no longer offering reclaimed oak. If you like this design, please contact us for pricing on other wood species!
This simple modern desk in reclaimed oak and walnut for...
Category
2010s North American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Reclaimed Wood
$3,500 / item
Gianfranco Frattini Mod. 804 Rolltop Desk
Located in Munich, DE
Walnut writing desk model 804 designed in 1961 by Gianfranco Frattini for Bernini, Italy. Tambour top that hides small drawers and a pull out leather writing surface. Front side with...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Mid-Century Modern Large Writing Table / Executive Desk, Pace, Ebony
Located in Manhasset, NY
American Mid-Century Modern ebonized wood large writing table / executive / desk
A large and impressive executives desk that can certainly be used...
Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Midcentury Portuguese Olaio Oak Desk, 1950s
By Olaio
Located in Lisboa, Lisboa
Rare desk from the Portuguese factory Olaio. Made in 1950 with oak wood. This desk have 3 drawers, one of them is a file. One drawing board. Removable top with space to store the typ...
Category
1950s Portuguese Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak
$2,320 Sale Price
30% Off
Williams Hairpin Writing Desk Walnut Navy
Located in Cincinnati, US
A thin, elegant and light desk that can be customized to any color desired. This handcrafted item perfectly blends industrial hairpin legs with a beveled wooden top. The irregular be...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Steel
$840 / item
Arne Vodder Desk for Sibast – Rosewood and Metal
By Arne Vodder, Sibast
Located in PARIS, FR
Rosewood desk by Arne Vodder for Sibast. This rosewood desk has a very nice look thanks to the wood grain and the use of chromed metal brings a modern touch to the desk which makes t...
Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
Karl Springer Parsons form desk wrapped in faux lizard embossed leather
Located in Chicago, IL
A faux lizard embossed leather parsons desk / writing table. Attributed to Karl Springer.
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Erich Stratmann Chef Schreibtisch Ulmenholz 1950
Located in Berlin, DE
Wir bieten einen sehr schönen Midcentury Schreibtisch vom deutschen Designer Erich Stratmann für Idee Möbel zum Verkauf an.
Die Tischplatte wurde professionell aufgearbeitet und sch...
Category
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Elm
Dunbar Contract Division Mid Century Executive Desk
Located in Franklin Park, IL
Dunbar contract division Mid Century executive desk
Desk measures: 72 wide x 36 deep x 28.5 inches high
All pieces of furniture ca...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Plexiglass, Wood
50° Desk in Wood Italian
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Wood desk from the 50s, Italian.
Desk 1950s
Country: Italian
Finish: polyurethanic lacquer
It is an elegant and sophisticated desk.
We have specialized in the sale of Art Deco and ...
Category
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
$13,000
Williams Hairpin Writing Desk Walnut Yellow
Located in Cincinnati, US
A thin, elegant and light desk that can be customized to any color desired. This handcrafted item perfectly blends industrial hairpin legs with a beveled wooden top. The irregular be...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Steel
$840 / item
Williams Hairpin Writing Desk Maple Prairie Green
Located in Cincinnati, US
A thin, elegant and light desk that can be customized to any color desired. This handcrafted item perfectly blends industrial hairpin legs with a beveled wooden top. The irregular be...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Steel
Early Vintage Florence Knoll Dining Table or Desk
By Florence Knoll, Knoll
Located in Chicago, IL
Early vintage Florence Knoll dining table.
Model 301
Literature: Knoll Furniture 1938-1960, Rouland and Rouland, pg 105
Comes with 1 (18") leaf.
Measures: 60" wide without le...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Custom Order Executive Desk and Wall Mounted Cabinet by Warren Platner for Knoll
By Knoll, Warren Platner
Located in Sagaponack, NY
An inset leather top executive desk over cantilevered chrome plate steel legs with accompanying six (6) door leather wall mounted storage unit. ( 10...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather
Franco Albini Mahogany mid-centry Italian Table Model TL-22 produced by Poggi
Located in Barcelona, ES
Franco Albini & Franca Helg.
Dining table model no. TL22.
Manufactured by Poggi,
Italy, 1958.
Mahogany.
Measurements:
180.3 cm x 104.1 cm x 73 H cm.
70.98 in x 40.98 in x 28.74 in.
Literature:
Giuliana Gramigna, Repertorio 1950/1980, Milan, 1985, p. 123.
Franco Albini, was born in 1905 and died in 1977. He spent his childhood and part of his youth in Robbiate in Brianza, where he was born. Albini, as an adolescent moved with his family to Milan. Here he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture of the Polytechnic and graduated in 1929. He started his professional activity in the studio of Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia, with whom he collaborated for three years. At the 1929 International Exhibition in Barcelona (where Gio Ponti curated the Italian pavilion and Mies van der Rohe realized that of Germany) and in Paris where, as Franca Helg recounted, he had the opportunity to visit the studio by Le Corbusier.
In those three years, the works he carried out are admittedly of the twentieth century imprint. It is the meeting with Edoardo Persico that marked a clear turning point towards rationalism and the approach to the group of editors of "Casabella". The partly ironic and partly very harsh comments of the Neapolitan critic to a series of drawings, made by Albini for the design of some office furniture, caused him a great disturbance. “I spent days of real anguish - Albini recalls - I had to answer all the questions. I also had a fever, a large and long fever. "
The meted provoked Albini to openen a professional studio in via Panizza with Renato Camus and Giancarlo Palanti. The group of architects began to deal with public housing by participating in the competition for the Baracca district in San Siro in 1932 and then building the IFACP neighborhoods: Fabio Filzi (1936/38), Gabriele D'Annunzio and Ettore Ponti (1939).
During this period, Albini also worked on his first villa (Pestarini), which Giuseppe Pagano, architect and critic of the time, presented as follows: “This coherence, which the superficial rhetoric of fashionable jugglers calls intransigence, and which is instead the basis of understood between the fantasy of art and the reality of the craft, in Franco Albini, it is so rooted that it transforms theory into a moral attitude ".
But it is above all in the context of the exhibitions that the Milanese master experienced his compromise between that "rigor and poetic fantasy" of which Pagano speaks, coining the elements that became a recurring theme in his . The opening in 1933 of the new Triennale headquarters in Milan, in the Palazzo dell'Arte, was an important opportunity to express the strong innovative character of rationalist thinking, a gym in which to freely experiment with new materials and new solutions, but above all a "method". "Cultivated as a communication laboratory, the art of setting up was for the rationalists of the first generation what the perspective had been for the architects of humanism: the field open to a hypothesis of space that needed profound reflections before landing the concreteness of the construction site ".
Together with Giancarlo Palanti, Albini on the occasion of the V Triennale di Milano set up the steel structure house (with R. Camus, G. Mazzoleni, G. Minoletti and with the coordination of G. Pagano), for which he also designed the 'furniture. At the following Triennale of 1936, Persico dided, together with a group of young designers gathered by Pagano in the previous edition of 1933, Franco Albini took care of the preparations of the home exhibition. The setting up of Stanza per un uomo, at that same Triennale, allows us to understand the acute and ironic approach of Albini, as a man and as a designer: "Celebrating the beauty of mechanics was the imperative to which, for example, the surprising displays by Franco Albini who managed, in the subtle way of a refined and rarefied style, to sublimate their practical content in the metaphysics of daring still lifes: flying objects which marked in the void refined frames and metal intricacies the nodes of a fantastic cartography where industry finally became art free from purpose ".
That same year Albini and Romano designed the exhibition of the Ancient Italian Goldsmithery: vertical uprights, simple linear rods, designed the space. A theme, of the "flagpole", seemed to be the center of the evolution of production and the creative process. The concept is reworked over time, with the technique of decomposition and recomposition typical of Albinian design: in the preparation of the Scipione Exhibition and contemporary drawings (1941) the tapered flagpoles, on which the paintings and display cases were hung, are supported by a grid of steel cables; in the Vanzetti stand (1942) they take the V-shape; in the Olivetti shop in Paris (1956) the polished mahogany uprights support the shelves for the display of typewriters and calculators.
The flagpole is found, however, also in other areas. In the apartments he designed, it is used as a pivot on which the paintings can be suspended and rotated to allow different points of view, but at the same time as an element capable of dividing the spaces. The Veliero bookcase...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
Arne Jacobsen Grand Prix Dining Table or Desk
Located in Munich, DE
Grand prix teak dining table designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1957. Perfect untouched condition.
Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stunning Rare Rosewood and Brass Platform Desk by Roger Sprunger for Dunbar
Located in Pemberton, NJ
A stunning sleek rosewood desk with three minimal drawers that disappear into the apron. This wonderful desk has the very rare brass pedestal legs. Dunbar metal tag is inside the lef...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
$11,600 Sale Price
20% Off
Writing desk, Italian manufacture. C1950s.
Located in Baranzate, IT
Beautiful Vintage desk with two drawers and front storage rack bordered by iron wire mesh. Italian manufacture. C1950s.
Category
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
Jorge Zalszupin Rosewood foldable Desk, Brazilian Midcentury
Located in New York, NY
Writing desk designed by Jorge Zalszupin and manufactured by his company, L'atelier. This piece is covered with rectangular pieces of marquetry wood, a creative resource developed by Zalszupin. The technique consists of gluing several pieces of rosewood leaves of different textures and shades on a furniture surface, which forms a beautiful wood patchwork. This feature allows large surfaces to be coated with a larger visual unit, making it easier to combine different furniture together. This writing desk is a dynamic piece, which can be used both in the corporate and domestic places, a characteristic very present in Zalszupin's production.
About his marquetry technique, Zalzszupin affirms:
"I thought about combining several patterns of rosewood, lighter, darker, with different types of veins, that is, creating a new pattern for all desks...
Category
1960s Brazilian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Rosewood
French Midcentury Iron Dining Table / Desk, Cantilevered Glass Top, Saint Gobain
By Saint Gobain
Located in New York, NY
A Rare, Original French Mid-Century Modern Industrial Wrought Iron Dining table or Desk circa 1930. The table works as dining table, center table or large desk and has a cantilevered...
Category
1930s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wrought Iron
Midcentury Golden Desk
Located in Westwood, NJ
A Mid-Century Modern style golden amber Paldao veneered desk with a Classic brass frame, squared brass pulls, a single long drawer and raised on six brass legs.
Dimensions: 60.33...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
$8,908 / item
Sleek Milo Baughman Style Chrome x Base Desk John Stuart Mid-Century Modern
Located in Pemberton, NJ
Wonderful Milo Baughman style chrome X base desk retailed by John Stuart-label inside the drawer. The original light lavender enamel shows age-appropriate scuffs, scratches, and sign...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Chrome
$4,200 Sale Price
20% Off
Amazing Italian Desk or Dining Table by Guglielmo Ulrich
Located in Munich, DE
Wonderful organic shaped walnut base and silvered glass top. I was not able to get a good picture of the top.
Category
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
$4,310 Sale Price
35% Off
Wonderful Minimalistic Wenge Wood Table or Desk
By Metz & Co.
Located in Munich, DE
Modernist massive wenge dining table from the 1960s, retailed by the dutch exclusive department store metz & co. very intelligent and minimalistic design - easy to disassemble to sto...
Category
1960s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
French 1950s Rectangular Solid Walnut Table
Located in Long Island City, NY
French midcentury rectangular solid walnut dining table.
Two matching benches are available (not included in pricing)
Approximative dimensions of the benches are H 17"7/8 x W 54"3/...
Category
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Augusto Savini for Pozzi Drop Leaf Gate Leg Desk with Matching Pamplona Chair
By Augusto Savini, Pozzi
Located in Chicago, IL
Uncommon desk form to come across. Original ivory white lacquer over wood with leather insets. Pozzi label attached. 3 drawers with locks (no keys included-should be easy to replace ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather
Very Rare Stamped Waring & Gillow 1960 U.K.A.E.A UK Atomic Energy Authority Desk
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer for sale this very rare original fully stamped Waring & Gillow 1960 light walnut U.K.A.E.A Uk Atomic Energy Authority double sided walnut desk
This desk ...
Category
1960s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Excellent Rosewood Roll Top Desk by Edward Wormley for Dunbar Mid-Century Modern
Located in Pemberton, NJ
Classic roll top desk by Edward Wormley for Dunbar with leather footrest. This stately executive desk is beautifully constructed of rosewood and mahogany. With two sliding roll-tops,...
Category
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Paul McCobb for Calvin MCM Ebonized Mahogany Brass and White Laminate Desk
Located in Franklin Park, IL
Paul McCobb for Calvin mid century ebonized mahogany brass and white laminate desk
Desk measures: 54.5 wide x 26 deep x 29 inches high, with a cha...
Category
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Metal Desk, Top Covered with Faux Leather, circa 1960
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Metal desk, top covered with faux leather circa 1960
Maybe a former dentist's office.
Category
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal, Chrome
Mid-century Modern desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Mid-Century Modern desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage desks and writing tables created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include tables, case pieces and storage cabinets, seating and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, metal and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Mid-Century Modern desks and writing tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and North America pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original desks and writing tables, popular names associated with this style include Cassina, Lawson-Fenning, Charlotte Perriand, and Paul McCobb. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for desks and writing tables differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $299 and tops out at $184,000 while the average work can sell for $4,773.
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