Memphis Center or Dining Table
View Similar Items
Memphis Center or Dining Table
About the Item
- Creator:Memphis Group (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.44 in (74.78 cm)Diameter: 36 in (91.44 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:Steel,Enameled
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1980s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Pasadena, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU82582772102
Memphis Group
To many people, postmodern design is synonymous with the Memphis Group. This Italian collaborative created the most radical and attention-getting designs of the period, upending most of the accepted standards of how furniture should look.
The Memphis story begins in 1980, when Ettore Sottsass, then a beacon of Italian postmodernism, tapped a coterie of younger designers to develop a collection for the Milan Furniture Fair the next year, determined that all the new furniture they were then seeing was boring. Their mission: Boldly reject the stark minimalism of the 1970s and shatter the rules of form and function. (Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, designed in 1970, embodied many of what would become the collective’s postmodern ideals.)
The group decided to design, produce and market their own collection, one that wouldn’t be restricted by concerns like functionality and so-called good taste. Its debut, at Milan’s 1981 Salone del Mobile, drew thousands of viewers and caused a major stir in design circles.
So as a record of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile” played on repeat, they took their name from the song, devised their marketing strategy and plotted the postmodern look that would come to define the decade of excess — primary colors, blown-up proportions, playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art. A high-low mix of materials also helped define Memphis, as evidenced by Javier Mariscal’s pastel serving trays, which feature laminate veneer — a material previously used only in kitchens — as well as Shiro Kuramata’s Nara and Kyoto tables made from colored glass-infused terrazzo.
An image of Sottsass posing with his collaborators in a conversation pit shaped like a boxing ring appeared in magazines all over the world, and Karl Lagerfield furnished his Monte Carlo penthouse entirely in Memphis furniture. Meanwhile, members like Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Sottsass and his wife, journalist Barbara Radice, went on to enjoy fruitful careers.
Some people think of the Milan-based collective as the design equivalent to Patrick Nagel’s kitschy screenprints, but for others Memphis represents what made the early 1980s so great: freedom of expression, dizzying patterns and off-the-wall colors.
Eventually, the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990s minimalism, and Memphis fell out of fashion. Sottsass left the group in 1985, and by 1987, it had disbanded. Yet decades later, Memphis is back and can be traced to today’s most exciting designers.
“As someone who was born in the 1980s, Memphis at times feels like the grown-up, artsy version of the toys I used to play with,” says Shaun Kasperbauer, cofounder of the Brooklyn studio Souda. “It feels a little nostalgic, but at the same time it seems like an aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to an internet age — loud, colorful and utilizing forms that are graphic and often a little unexpected.”
Find a collection of vintage Memphis Group seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Seahorse Coffee Table, 1980sLocated in Pasadena, CAUnusual coffee table, with thick (0.5") round beveled glass; supported by an unusual wooden-carved seahorse base. A tranquil creature of elegance, the...Category
Vintage 1980s American Modern Center Tables
MaterialsGlass, Walnut
$2,200 Sale Price21% Off - Memphis Design Oval Vertical Mirror in a Purple and Green Triangles FrameBy Memphis GroupLocated in Pasadena, CAThis piece features a mirror framed with dark purple and olive green glass triangles. Memphis Design is a new style that only starts in 1980. The 80s was a period of eclectic transformation, where previous trends were rejected but borrowed from, and new unusual technologies, materials, and futuristic influences began to feature. The design movement began with a meeting in Milan, Italy, where designer Ettore Sottsass founded the ‘Memphis Design group named after a Bob Dylan song. Like most art, the movement was a counterargument against the rigidity of modern and minimalism. Instead, Memphis Designers wanted to bring out the ‘radical, funny and outrageous’ – blending Art Deco geometry...Category
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass
- Set of Four Memphis Italian White-Wash Wood Dining Room Chairs by S.p.A TononBy TononLocated in Pasadena, CACrafted with meticulous craftsmanship, these set of four high-backed dining chairs feature a lacquered finish in an elegant white wash wood tone. The chairs are adorned with rust-col...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Memphis Inspired Colorful Glass Studio VaseLocated in Pasadena, CAA fun Memphis Group-inspired colorful glass vase with contrasting shapes that seem to be stacked. The wide circular base is clear glass with swirl...Category
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass
$263 Sale Price64% Off - A Pair of 1970s Sycamore and Chrome Side or End TablesLocated in Pasadena, CAThese gueridons or end tables feature a sycamore top split in 4 quarters by a chrome insert matching the base bottom. The legs are made of chromed steel.Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Side Tables
MaterialsChrome
$1,900 Sale Price20% Off - Biedermeier for Baker Set of 6 Dining ChairsBy Baker Furniture CompanyLocated in Pasadena, CAThe high-end Baker manufacturer was inspired by this so refined Biedermeier style and made these chairs with the same attention. Biedermeier itself was inspired by the Directoire Fr...Category
Antique 1830s American Biedermeier Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBirdseye Maple, Upholstery
- 1970s Sculptural Chrome Dining Or Center TableBy Pace Furniture CompanyLocated in Saint Louis, MOModern sleek and sculptural chrome 1970s tubular dining or center table. This table is simply stunning. The photographs really capture its beauty. Curved chrome supports reflect and ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsChrome
- Memphis Style Italian Gueridon TableBy Memphis GroupLocated in East Hampton, NYSculptural and very heavy combination of concrete and painted steel. Geometric shape cutouts of powder coated metal in earth tones.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Center Tables
MaterialsConcrete, Cut Steel
- Walnut Dining or Center Table by Tinatin KilaberidzeBy Tinatin KilaberidzeLocated in New York, NYA stunning dining table by Tinatin Kilaberidze. Tinatin Kilaberidze who works with geometric forms chose this pentagon shape for a dining table that can be used alone or as a pair to seat 10-12 people. This is also a wonderful center table. Two of these tables are available, the second one is in white lacquer. Tinatin Kialberidze is a an interior architect, designer and artist who received two master degrees in interior design and architecture at the Academy of Art in her home town of Tbilisi (Republic of...Category
2010s American Dining Room Tables
Price Upon Request - Miguel Milá for Gres Dining or Center TableBy Miguel MilàLocated in Waalwijk, NLMiguel Milá for Gres, dining or center table, ukola wood, black lacquered wood, Spain, 1964 Lovely and sculptural round 'Altar' dining table designed by Spanish designer Miguel Milá...Category
Vintage 1960s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsWood
- Neoclassic Greek Key Wrought Iron Center or Dining TableLocated in Pasadena, CATimeless classicism, a beautiful Neoclassic style, Greek key table of wrought iron, early 20th century. The table could be used as either a center table or smaller scale dining table.Category
Early 20th Century French Center Tables
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Giulio Moscatelli Rosewood Center or Dining Table, Italy, 1960sBy Meroni, Giulio MoscatelliLocated in New York, NYGiulio Moscatelli for Meroni round center or dining table in rare rosewood with hexagonal base, Italy, circa 1964. This exquisite midcentury table design although simple in form is e...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
MaterialsRosewood