Modern Side 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Philippine Modern Side Tables
Composition, Stone
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Side Tables
Brass, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Stainless Steel
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Side Tables
Rosewood
2010s Italian Modern Side Tables
Marble
2010s Modern Side Tables
Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Blown Glass
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Tables
Walnut
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Maple
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Side Tables
Cane, Glass, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Side Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Side Tables
Acrylic, Lucite
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Side Tables
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Side Tables
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Side Tables
Marble, Metal
2010s Turkish Modern Side Tables
Wood, Plywood, Paint
Late 20th Century Modern Side Tables
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Side Tables
Walnut
2010s Brazilian Modern Side Tables
Wood
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Acrylic, Lucite, Plexiglass
2010s European Modern Side Tables
Bronze
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Brass, Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Side Tables
Glass, Fiberglass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Metal
2010s Belgian Modern Side Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Side Tables
Onyx, Marble, Brass, Stainless Steel, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Stone, Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Side Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Side Tables
Steel
Late 20th Century Modern Side Tables
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Side Tables
Ash
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Steel, Iron
2010s Ukrainian Modern Side Tables
Walnut, Oak, Ash
2010s Argentine Modern Side Tables
Bronze
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Side Tables
Marble
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Tables
Wood
2010s Australian Modern Side Tables
Stainless Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Side Tables
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Side Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Side Tables
Ash
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Steel, Iron
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Steel
2010s Ukrainian Modern Side Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Polish Modern Side Tables
Brass
2010s European Modern Side Tables
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Guatemalan Modern Side Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Side Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Side Tables
Marble, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Lithuanian Modern Side Tables
Brass, Metal, Silver Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Tables
Brass
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Cement, Concrete
2010s Thai Modern Side Tables
Wood
2010s British Modern Side Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Murano Glass
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Carrara Marble, Marble