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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Modern Tables
Marble, Brass
2010s Brazilian Modern Tables
Metal
20th Century Modern Tables
Brass, Chrome
1970s Swiss Vintage Modern Tables
Leather, Glass, Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Tables
Mahogany
Early 2000s American Modern Tables
Gold Leaf
2010s Belgian Modern Tables
Bronze, Steel
1970s French Vintage Modern Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Teak
2010s American Modern Tables
Oak
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Hardwood, Ash
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Tables
Glass, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Brass
2010s German Modern Tables
Limestone, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tables
Cord
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Hardwood
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Hardwood
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Maple, Walnut
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Marble