Skip to main content

Post-Modern Serving Tables

POSTMODERN STYLE

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

  • Emerges during the 1960s; popularity explodes during the ’80s
  • A reaction to prevailing conventions of modernism by mainly American architects
  • Architect Robert Venturi critiques modern architecture in his Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966)
  • Theorist Charles Jencks, who championed architecture filled with allusions and cultural references, writes The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977)
  • Italian design collective the Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, meets for the first time (1980) 
  • Memphis collective debuts more than 50 objects and furnishings at Salone del Milano (1981)
  • Interest in style declines, minimalism gains steam

CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Dizzying graphic patterns and an emphasis on loud, off-the-wall colors
  • Use of plastic and laminates, glass, metal and marble; lacquered and painted wood 
  • Unconventional proportions and abundant ornamentation
  • Playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art

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 Mendinia 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.

to
Height
to
Width
to
Depth
to
16
2
16
5
349
76
64
53
43
38
32
27
22
12
11
10
9
8
8
6
3
1
5
16
5
2
1
1
12
11
11
8
8
17
8
7
2
2
21
6
9
8
1
1
1
1
Style: Post-Modern
Post-Modern Memphis Style Italian Aluminum Frame Bar Cart
Located in San Diego, CA
Wonderful example of Italian Post-Modern Memphis design, circa 1980s. Versatile piece on casters that can be used as tea, bar or serving serving cart. The piece is made of wood with ...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Aluminum

Servomuto table by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Zanotta, 1974
Located in Athens, Attiki
Servomuto table of the range Servi by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Zanotta, 1974. Servomuto, light and easy to move, is the worthy heir of the essential stylish and balan...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Metal, Steel

Duplex Side Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine, Metal

Duplex Salmon Center Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine

Duplex Walnut Side Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine

Postmodern Serving Cart Fontana Arte Style with Three Glass Shelves, Italy
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1970s. This serving cart features a chrome-plated steel frame and three glass shelves, which can be used as trays. It is a vintage item, therefore it might show sligh...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Steel

Italian Post Modern Red Wine and Chromed Steel Foldin Table by Zerodisegno 1980s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern red wine and chromed steel foldin table by Zerodisegno, 1980s Folding table with structure in chromed steel rod, with wine-colored top and black border, divided ...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Steel

Brazilian Modern Coffee Table by Sergio Rodrigues in Lacquered Wood
Located in Sao Paulo, SP
Brazilian modern "Augusto" round coffee table by Sergio Rodrigues, 1991 Black lacquered wood and marble top Sergio and Adolpho were already old acquaintances when, in 1991, the entr...
Category

1990s Brazilian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Marble

Duplex Copper Center Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine

Duplex Oak Center Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine

Queen Nenzima Server, Terrazzo by TheUrbanative
Located in Geneve, CH
Queen Nenzima server, Terrazzo by TheUrbanative Dimensions: W200 x D50 x H85 cm Material: Powder-coated steel Terrazzo doors and top Bamboo inner shelf Also available: Queen n...
Category

2010s South African Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Steel

Duplex Lilac Lacquered Side Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine

Duplex Lacquered Side Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine

Duplex Center Table by Mambo Unlimited Ideas
Located in Lisbon, PT
Open since 1997 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, a country with a long crafts tradition, Mambo Unlimited Ideas' design team researches for innovation and creativity developments around...
Category

2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Travertine, Metal

Walker Whiskey Table by Gisbert Pöppler
Located in Geneve, CH
Walker whiskey table by Gisbert Pöppler Dimensions: D 16 x W 16 x H 59 cm Materials: Laquered wood, steel Available in blue, green, red and yellow. ...
Category

2010s German Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Steel

Marble Modular Base Contemporary Art Side Table Set by Samuele Brian
Located in Geneve, CH
Marble side table set by Samuele Brianza. Dimensions: 45 x 45 x 57 cm. 45 x 45 x 75 cm. Materials: - paonazzo marble 16 blocks. - sarnico stone round top. Primo is a modul...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Stone, Marble

Console, Table, Painted, Steel, Bronze, Lion, Sculpture
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A painted steel, console table with a shaped frieze inspired by a 17th century, Flemish cabinet. Standing on turned legs joined by an ‘H’ stretcher with a bronze, sculpted lion on on...
Category

Early 2000s English Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Bronze, Steel

Marble Modular Base & Steel Top Contemporary Art Coffee Table by Samuele Brianza
Located in Geneve, CH
Marble coffee table by Samuele Brianza Dimensions: 100 x 100 x 75 cm Materials: Paonazzo marble 12 blocks Glass round top Primo is a modular system made of load-bearing marbl...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Marble

Marble Modular Base Contemporary Art Low Coffee Table by Samuele Brianza
Located in Geneve, CH
Marble low coffee table by Samuele Brianza Dimensions: 100 x 100 x 38.5 cm Materials: Paonazzo marble 6 blocks Glass round top Primo is a modular system made of load-bearing ...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Marble

Queen Nenzima Server, Solid Ash by Theurbanative
Located in Geneve, CH
Queen Nenzima Server, solid ash by TheUrbanative Dimensions: W 200 x D 50 x H 85 cm Material: Powder-coated steel Natural and stained solid Ash timber Also Available: Queen ne...
Category

2010s South African Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Steel

Brass Swinging Drink Table by Gentner Design
Located in Geneve, CH
Brass swinging drink table by Gentner Design Dimensions: D 14 x W 14 x H 55.8 cm Materials: brass A table for your drink that is already a li...
Category

2010s American Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Brass

Related Items
Nara Serving Table, by Shiro Kuramata for Memphis Milano Collection
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Shiro Kuramata 1983 Service table made with the traditional technique of terrazzo in concrete conglomerate and coloured glass. Nara perfectly combines the Japanese aesthetic traditi...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Concrete

Italian Design Mid-Century Bar Cart, 1950s
Located in Casale Monferrato, IT
Rare 1950s Italian desgin serving bar cart. Made of beech wood equipped with two glass shelves and brass wheels for convenient movement. Perfect for serving drinks to your guests. Vi...
Category

1950s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Glass, Beech

Italian Design Mid-Century Bar Cart, 1950s
Italian Design Mid-Century Bar Cart, 1950s
$1,730 Sale Price
20% Off
H 26.78 in W 27.56 in D 17.33 in
Game Table by Joe Colombo for Zanotta, 1970s
Located in Leuven, Vlaams Gewest
Joe Colombo (Milan 1930 - 1971) "Poker" card table Laminate, stainless steel, Game table designed in 1968 by the famous designer Joe Colombo, produced by Zanotta, with double layered...
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Metal, Chrome

Game Table by Joe Colombo for Zanotta, 1970s
Game Table by Joe Colombo for Zanotta, 1970s
$2,102
H 27.56 in W 52.76 in D 52.76 in
French Napoleon III Serving Table or Side Table Walnut and Brass, circa 1880
Located in Labrit, Landes
Napoleon III walnut and brass serving table, French This can also be used as a side table. One drawer and two shelves circa 1880 Good antique condition. Shipping: L42 P33 ...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Brass

Midcentury Cesare Lacca Italian Serving Trolley Bar Cart in Wood and Glass, 1950
Located in Roma, IT
Gorgeous midcentury serving bar cart in wood and glass with brass handles. This charming and unique bar cart was designed by Cesare Lacca and produced in Italy during the 1950s. In...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Brass

"Leonardo " Table by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta
Located in Piacenza, Italy
Iconic table by Castiglioni for Zanotta. Adjustable in height. White laminate top. Literature: Giuliana Gramigna, Repertorio 1950-2000, Torino, p...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Wood

"Leonardo " Table by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta
"Leonardo " Table by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta
$6,848
H 31.5 in W 78.75 in D 39.38 in
Midcentury Rare Side or Serving Table, Space Age Style, Italy, 1970s
Located in Praha, CZ
- very practical - rare type
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Chrome

Italian Chromed Metal and Glass Bar Cart, 1980s
Located in Casale Monferrato, IT
we offer you this refined bar cart made in Italy around the 80s. Characterized by a chromed metal structure and two glass shelves. In the lower part a divider in the top allows the s...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Metal

Italian Chromed Metal and Glass Bar Cart, 1980s
Italian Chromed Metal and Glass Bar Cart, 1980s
$1,802
H 28.35 in W 29.14 in D 16.93 in
Italian Mid-Century Modern Wooden Two Tier Serving Cart
Located in Weesp, NL
Stylish and elegant Italian Mid-Century Modern Jatoba wood two tier serve / bar trolley with two removable serving trays. This beautiful trolley is in very good condition and can be ...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Plywood

Italian Mid-Century Modern Wooden Two Tier Serving Cart
Italian Mid-Century Modern Wooden Two Tier Serving Cart
$2,703
H 25.2 in W 24.02 in D 27.96 in
Cesare Lacca Midcentury Wood Italian Bar Cart with Glass Serving Trays, 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
Fantastic midcentury wood bar cart with glass serving trays. Cesare Lacca probably designed this amazing piece in Italy during the 1950s. This ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Brass

Mosaic Tile Side Table by Vladimir Kagan for Kagan-Dreyfuss, circa 1955
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This rare gem of a side table is by Vladimir Kagan, during his early years with Hugo Dreyfuss featuring his highly-sought-after-by-collectors mosaic tiles on the table top and sculpt...
Category

1950s American Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Ceramic, Walnut

Gianfranco Frattini Serving Bar Cart with Drawer for Bernini, Italy 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
Marvelous and incredibly rare mid-century serving bar cart with drawer in a gorgeous rosewood. This elegant piece was designed by Gianfranco Frattini and produced by Bernini in Italy...
Category

1950s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Metal

Previously Available Items
Italian Post Modern Black White Metal Glass Food Trolley or Coffee Table, 1980s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern black and white metal and glass food trolley or coffee table, 1980s Food trolley or tall coffee table on wheels with white metal structure with double shelf, of ...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Metal

Drexel Heritage Chinoiserie Parsons Console Tables
Located in Southampton, NJ
An especially long lithe pair of Asian Modern Parsons console tables by Drexel Heritage. New refinished tops showcase striking fiery Mahogany woo...
Category

1980s Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Mahogany

Italian post modern light solid wood console with three drawers, 1980s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern light solid wood console with three drawers, 1980s. Console in light solid wood with three drawers and rounded top. 1980s...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Wood

Postmodern Italian Bar Cart, Table
Located in San Diego, CA
Wonderful example of Italian Postmodern design. Versatile piece on casters that can be used as tea cart, bar cart, serving cart, table. Table is made of leather and stainless steel w...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Stainless Steel

Postmodern Italian Bar Cart, Table
Postmodern Italian Bar Cart, Table
H 24.25 in W 42.25 in D 32.25 in
Postmodern Side Table or Serving Cart on Casters
Located in Astoria, NY
Postmodern side table or serving cart on casters, designed in the style of Dakota Jackson. The piece has a circular glass top held in place by ...
Category

Late 20th Century Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Metal

Maison Jansen Brass Bar Elements
Located in Antwerp, BE
Pair of brass bar corner elements acid etched brass plates ebonised wood and smoked glass shelves Maison Jansen France, 1980s. Measures: H 120 c...
Category

1980s French Vintage Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Brass

Maison Jansen Brass Bar Elements
Maison Jansen Brass Bar Elements
H 47.25 in W 47.25 in D 23.63 in
Modernist Lucite Bar Cart in the Manner of Charles Hollis Jones
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Outstanding two-tier Lucite bar cart or serving cart with modernist design. Comprised of dense Lucite base with beveled edges. The bar cart has a "Z" formation and features mirrored ...
Category

20th Century American Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Lucite, Mirror

Ko-Ko Table by Shiro Kuramata
Located in New York, NY
Service table "Ko-Ko" in black-stained ash and polished chrome, designed by Shiro Kuramata and produced by Cappelini, c. 1990's. One of many successful post-modern designs by Memphi...
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Serving Tables

Materials

Chrome

Ko-Ko Table by Shiro Kuramata
Ko-Ko Table by Shiro Kuramata
H 24.5 in W 19.75 in D 17.75 in

Post-modern serving tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Post-Modern serving tables for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage serving tables created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include tables, case pieces and storage cabinets and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, steel and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Post-Modern serving tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and Africa pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original serving tables, popular names associated with this style include Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Christopher Gentner, Fontana Arte, and Kouros Maghsoudi. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for serving tables differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $167 and tops out at $14,550 while the average work can sell for $2,985.

Recently Viewed

View All