Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern American furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale, in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests. The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by legendary manufacturer Knoll, a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century designers caught the spirit.
Classically-oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb — who designed holistic groups of sleek, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Nutwood
20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Fabric, Rattan, Maple
1960s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Laminate, Ash
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Metal
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Elm
1950s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1950s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Metal
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Metal, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Birch
1960s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Teak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1970s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Palisander
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Resin
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Teak
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Marble, Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Fabric, Mirror, Wood
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Mirror, Teak
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Bronze
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Oak, Teak
1960s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Teak
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Teak
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Aluminum
Late 20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Leather, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Walnut
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Oak
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Mirror, PVC, Cherry
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Chrome
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Chrome
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Mirror, Walnut
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
Mid-20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Walnut
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1960s British Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Mirror, Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Wood