Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
1970's Italian Design Travertine Nesting Side Table Set
Located in Oud-Turnhout, VAN
Vintage 1970's Italian Design set of 3 Travertine Nesting Side Tables. Made in Italy in the 1970's. Square with rounded edges on each table. All are in good condition, the largest mo...
Travertine
Postmodern Perforated Metal Nesting Side Table from Ikea, 1980s
By IKEA
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern metal side table from Ikea from the 1980s. A delicate design. The finely crafted frame forms runners. A perforated metal sheet serves as the table top. The entire table i...
Metal
$2,800Sale Price / set|20% Off
Rare Pair of Post-Modern Lacquered Nesting Tables Signed by Pietro Costantini
Located in San Diego, CA
Stunning pair of Italian post-modern lacquered nesting tables signed by Pietro Costantini, circa 1990s. The table tops are made of hardwood veneer with a clear high gloss lacquer fin...
Chrome
Angelo Cortesi for Fiam Italia Set of Three waterfall Nesting Tables.
By FIAM, Angelo Cortesi
Located in Chicago, IL
Set of three waterfall bent and checker board scored glass nesting tables by Angelo Cortesi for FIAM Italia. Fantastic condition with no chips, cracks or deep scratches. Rubber runne...
Glass
Gallotti & Radice Chrome Smoked Glass Nesting Tables 1980s Coffee Vintage Retro
Located in London, GB
Nest of 1980s Italian tables in steel chrome frame and brown smoked tempered glass, from design powerhouses Gallotti & Radice. Imported from Italy to the UK in the 1990s. The smoked...
Chrome
Pair of Waterfall Nesting Tables done in tinted glass attr. to FIAM, Italy 1980s
By FIAM
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find a pair of Waterfall Nesting Side Tables attributed to Fiam. They are made of tinted, gray glass. Fitting one under the other, they don't take up much sp...
Glass
$6,936 / item
Levels Low Table by Dan Yeffet & Lucie Koldova
Located in Geneve, CH
Levels low table Dan Yeffet & Lucie Koldova Dimensions: Ø75 x 25 cm Materials: Solid oak, natural oiled & oak tainted black. Inlays: glass (4mm), mat black/white or marble (20mm) ...
Marble
A Pair of Post Modern Faux Marble Resin Nesting Tables. Circa 1980s
Located in Miami, FL
A Pair of Vintage Post Modern Faux Marble Cast Resin Accent / Nesting Tables. Circa 1980s Feature a minimalist design with rounded edges and beatiful faux stone veins design in shade...
Resin
$772Sale Price / set|20% Off
Mid-Century Modern Glass Nesting Tables
Located in Weesp, NL
Glass nesting tables Mid-Century Modern. 1970s Dutch fume glass nesting tables in very good condition. Measurements: H 41 x W 434 x D 42 cm. The nesting tables will be send disass...
Metal
Unique Wrought Iron Nesting Tables in 24 Ct Gold Leaf with Bronze Glass Tops
Located in London, GB
This stunning set of 3 nesting tables was designed by Andrew and originally made by the famous Italian craftsmen at Li Puma in the heart of Florence in Italy - it is a unique "one of...
Iron, Wrought Iron, Gold Leaf
Postmodern Perforated Metal Nesting Side Tables from Ikea, 1980s, Set of 2
By IKEA
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern metal nesting side table from Ikea from the 1980s. A delicate design. The finely crafted frame forms runners. A perforated metal sheet serves as the table top. The table ...
Metal
"Tango" Glass Nesting Table Set by Fabio Di Bartolomei for Fiam Italia
Located in Oud Beijerland, NL
This lovely and rare nesting table set was designed in 1996 by Fabio di Bartolomei for Fiam Italy. The tables are made of very solid curved glass. It is no longer in production. ...
Glass, Wood
Cassina Set of 1960s 'Marema' Nesting Tables by Gianfranco Frattini
By Gianfranco Frattini, Cassina
Located in Toronto, CA
Designed by Gianfranco Frattini for Cassina in the mid-1960s, the Marema nesting tables are a standout example of Italian modernism. Featuring four low tables that stack into a sculp...
Plastic
Dining Room / Coffee Tables "Livingislands" by Smarin
Located in London, GB
Free shape, massive, which seems to float as a new challenge to the gravity in the living room. Two small islands which can be stacked, forming two independent consoles, a nomad archipelago, a game of upside-down summits, convertibles in tables ! Livingisland is a wooden table system put together horizontally, in epicea whose visible sections form a random combination evocative of the remarkable form of geological strata. o Coffee table system...
Spruce
Italian Postmodern Nesting and Stacking Tables, Italy 80s
Located in Lucija, SI
Italian Postmodern set of Nesting tables. Made in Italy in the 80s Very good condition Dimensions Table 1 52cm x 58cm x 45cm Table 2 47,5cm x 54cm x 38,5cm Table 3 42,5cm x 49cm x 32cm
Glass, Smoked Glass, Wood
$1,871Sale Price / set|20% Off
Postmodern Design Handmade Nesting Table set by J. Berdou, France 1980's
Located in Oud-Turnhout, VAN
Postmodern Design Art Handmade Nesting Table set by J. Berdou. Made in France, 1980's period. Signed by the artist on the large model table. A Rare nesting / side table set with beau...
Cast Stone, Metal
Les Prismatiques Pair of Triangular Lucite and Glass Nesting Tables Post-Modern
Located in Philadelphia, PA
These stunning lucite and glass tables were made in the 1990s by manufacturer Les Prismatiques. Shaped like rounded triangles, each table is made of 1.5 inch thick lucite and 3/4 inc...
Glass, Lucite
Maurice Villency Post-Modern Trio 3 Faux Coral Stone Round Nesting Tables 1970s
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A very cool set of three Post-Modern, Faux Coral or Fossil Stone, composition made, round nesting tables. Made and retailed by Maurice Villency in the late 1970s or early 80s, this s...
Composition
$19,148 / set
Set of 2 Loulou Nesting Tables by Haymann Editions
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2 Loulou Nesting Tables by Haymann Editions Dimensions: D 96 x W 98 x H 49 cm. Materials: Lacquered wood. These two nested tables, adorned in lacquered wood, elegantly and su...
Wood
Set of 3 upholstered nesting tables by Pierre Frey, France, 1970s
By Patrick Frey, La Maison Pierre Frey
Located in Lyon, FR
Rare set of three triangular nesting tables in wood, fully upholstered in Pierre Frey fabrics, from the Patrick Frey collection (Pierre Frey’s son, who took over the artistic directi...
Fabric, Wood
Brasilia Nesting Tables, Three, by The Campana Brothers, Blue Glass Tops, Chrome
By Campana Brothers, Edra
Located in Kansas City, MO
Set of three Brasilia tables designed by Fernando and Humberto Campana for Edra, Italy, 2006. Blue colored mirrored Reflex glass tops and chrome-plated aluminum legs. The glass shard...
Aluminum
Postmodern Travertine Nesting Side Tables, a Set of 3
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A set of three nesting side tables in solid travertine, designed in a stepped form typical of postmodern furniture. Each table is constructed as a U-shaped volume, allowing the small...
Travertine
Set of 3 Late 20th Century Nesting Side Tables in Chrome and Smoked Glass
Located in Beirut, LB
A sophisticated set of nested tables from the late 1970s, showcasing Italian craftsmanship in chrome and smoked glass, exuding post-modern elegance. The cantilever design adds a tou...
Chrome
Set of 3 Postmodern Nesting Tables done in Granite, Italy 1980s
By Roche Bobois
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find a set of three Postmodern nesting tables done in natural granite, with beautiful top shape. Made in Italy in 1980s. The tables can partly fit undernea...
Granite
1980s-1990s post modern swivel side table or display stand
Located in Phoenix, AZ
1980s-1990s post modern swivel side table or display stand. Wood with chrome, black, purple and turquoise laminate. The laminate tops swivel 360 degr...
Chrome
$4,211Sale Price / set|20% Off
Govert Heikoop, minimal Art, De Stijl, Coffee/Side tables, vase & console.
Located in CASTENRAY, NL
Furniture set by Artist Govert Heikoop (1951-2007) What shall we call it Post modern, Abstract, Minimalist, Memphis Style, De Stijl. Heikoop's artwork has been described by Art critics as "Linear...
Plywood, Paint
1986 Fan Nesting Table by DIA (Design Institute America) 3 tier glass and brass
By Design Institute America, Rick Berry
Located in Phoenix, AZ
“Fan Nesting Table” by DIA (Design Institute America), labeled, 1986. Brass and glass three-tiered nesting swivel cocktail, side or coffee table designed by Rick Berry. Perfect for a...
Brass
Vintage Set of 3 Flame Mahogany/Chrome Nesting Tables
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Whether nested together or used as a combination of end tables, this trio of mahogany and chrome nesting tables - with their spectacular wood grain patterns - give depth and a retro ...
Chrome
$2,468 / item
ASTER Table in Lacquered MDF by Daniel Couttolenc
Located in Geneve, CH
ASTER Table in Lacquered MDF by Daniel Couttolenc Dimensions: D 39 x W 39x H 56 cm. Materials: Lacquered MDF. Available in a variety of colors. The Aster Side Table by Daniel Coutto...
Wood
$2,468 / item
ASTER Table in Natural Tzalam by Daniel Couttolenc
Located in Geneve, CH
ASTER Table in Natural Tzalam by Daniel Couttolenc Dimensions: D 39 x W 39x H 56 cm. Materials: Natural Tzalam. The Aster Side Table is a versatile masterpiece by Daniel Couttolenc ...
Hardwood