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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1980s Belgian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
1980s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Goatskin, Wood, Lacquer
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stone
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
1980s Mexican Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Cocobolo
1980s European Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stone
1980s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Iron
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Birdseye Maple
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Steel, Chrome
Late 19th Century English Antique Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
1980s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Cherry
1960s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Late 20th Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Granite, Aluminum
20th Century American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1980s European Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stone
1980s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Iron
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass, Wood
1980s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
1980s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wrought Iron
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Goatskin
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Chrome
1980s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Grasscloth, Hardwood
1980s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Birdseye Maple