Modern Desks and Writing 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1930s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Parchment Paper
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Burl
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
Mid-20th Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Laminate, Wood, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Laminate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Other
1970s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Laminate
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Turkish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Metal, Brass
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Aluminum
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Fir
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass, Rosewood
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Swiss Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Japanese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stone
2010s Danish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Resin, Maple, Walnut
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Breccia Marble, Carrara Marble, Siena Marble, Aluminum, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stainless Steel
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Ash
Late 20th Century British Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Leather
2010s Mexican Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ash, Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather
2010s Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
1970s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
20th Century Indian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Iron
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s South African Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Ash
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Maple
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s British Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Oak