Modern 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Scagliola, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Tables
Brass
2010s Mexican Modern Tables
Hardwood, Walnut
2010s Ukrainian Modern Tables
Ash
2010s American Modern Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Tables
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Blown Glass
2010s Spanish Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Blown Glass
2010s Chinese Modern Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Glass
2010s North American Modern Tables
Leather, Maple, Oak, Walnut
2010s Chinese Modern Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Modern Tables
Stone
2010s American Modern Tables
Wood, Maple
2010s Swedish Modern Tables
Other
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Blown Glass
2010s Chinese Modern Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tables
Mahogany, Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Wood, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Scagliola, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Tables
Walnut, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Brass
2010s American Modern Tables
Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Wood, Plastic
2010s American Modern Tables
Wood, Mahogany
1960s Mexican Vintage Modern Tables
Gold Leaf
2010s Modern Tables
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Plastic
1930s South American Vintage Modern Tables
Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Glass
1990s Italian Modern Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Tables
Chrome, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Tables
Travertine, Wrought Iron
2010s American Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Tables
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Tables
Brass, Chrome
2010s French Modern Tables
Enamel
1960s Finnish Vintage Modern Tables
Birch