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Art Nouveau Sofa Tables

ART NOUVEAU STYLE

In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, antique Art Nouveau furniture reflects a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau movement developed in the decorative arts in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States.

ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Sinuous, organic and flowing lines
  • Forms that mimic flowers and plant life
  • Decorative inlays and ornate carvings of natural-world motifs such as insects and animals 
  • Use of hardwoods such as oak, mahogany and rosewood

ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

ANTIQUE ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Art Nouveau — which spanned furniture, architecture, jewelry and graphic design — can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. Although Art Deco and Art Nouveau were both in the forefront of turn-of-the-20th-century design, they are very different styles — Art Deco is marked by bold, geometric shapes while Art Nouveau incorporates dreamlike, floral motifs. The latter’s signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames.

The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. Impressionist artists were moved by the artistic tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and Japonisme — a term used to describe the appetite for Japanese art and culture in Europe at the time — greatly informed Art Nouveau. 

The Art Nouveau style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants.

In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bed frames and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers. 

The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.

Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass. 

Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).

Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.

There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.

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Style: Art Nouveau
Art Deco chester of drawers
Located in Kraków, Małopolska
Art Deco chest of drawers after renovation
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1930s Czech Vintage Art Nouveau Sofa Tables

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Birch

Chester of drawers Secession
Located in Kraków, Małopolska
ART NOUVEAU chest of drawers after renovation
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Early 1900s Czech Antique Art Nouveau Sofa Tables

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Birch

Modernist Vintage Sofa Table Circular Josef Hoffmann Style 20th Century Vienna
Located in Vienna, AT
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French Art Nouveau Marble Pastry Table Console
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Fantastic French Art Nouveau pastry table or console table featuring a dark green marble slab top. The thick marble is supported by a bronze mounted steel decorative arts base with w...
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20th Century French Art Nouveau Sofa Tables

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Coffee table red marble top white wood base handmade Italy by Cupioli
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This decorative coffee table is handcrafted using a Tuscany marble, known as Paonazzo. This selected marble has suggestive naturale veines in a red amaranto color. The top stands on...
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21st Century and Contemporary European Art Nouveau Sofa Tables

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1970-1980 Pair of Gilt Bronze Tables with 2 Levels in the Style of Art Nouveau
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Pair of tables in Art Nouveau style in gilded bronze, trays in smoked glass and black opaline, flared base, circa 1970-1980, everything is screwed and reinforcements on the angles. G...
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1970s French Vintage Art Nouveau Sofa Tables

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Bronze

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Art Nouveau sofa tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Art Nouveau sofa 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 sofa tables created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include tables and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with bronze, marble and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Art Nouveau sofa tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Austria pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original sofa tables, popular names associated with this style include and Cupioli made in Italy. 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 sofa tables differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,572 and tops out at $19,408 while the average work can sell for $6,055.

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