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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Lava
2010s American Modern Tables
Oak
2010s Indian Modern Tables
Slate, Bronze
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Argentine Modern Tables
Wood
2010s Indian Modern Tables
Pyrite
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Oak, Corian
2010s German Modern Tables
Clay
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Marble, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Lava
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Wood, Cherry
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Walnut, Corian
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Multi-gemstone, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Marble, Gold Leaf, Aluminum
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Oak, Corian
2010s French Modern Tables
Marble
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Granite, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Balinese Modern Tables
Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Ash, Oak, Birch
2010s German Modern Tables
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Balinese Modern Tables
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Multi-gemstone, Stainless Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Saudi Arabian Modern Tables
Acrylic
2010s South African Modern Tables
Brass, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Metal, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Marble, Carrara Marble
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Indian Modern Tables
Quartz, Brass
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Fiberglass
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s South African Modern Tables
Copper
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Metal, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Tables
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Tables
Steel
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Tables
Iron
2010s French Modern Tables
Marble
2010s Canadian Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Wood
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Wood
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Steel
2010s Czech Modern Tables
Steel