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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Chrome
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Oak
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak, Wood, Plywood
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Marble, Steel, Stainless Steel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Granite, Onyx, Marble, Brass
2010s British Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Palisander
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Rosewood
1970s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Central Asian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Velvet
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Chrome
20th Century Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Cut Steel, Metal, Steel
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Leather
Early 2000s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Kingwood, Mahogany
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
1920s English Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass
1970s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Crystal
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak, Plywood, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx
1970s Brazilian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Brass
Mid-20th Century European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Rosewood
2010s Mexican Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
20th Century Philippine Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stone