Modern Vanities
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s American Vintage Modern Vanities
Mirror, Acrylic, Lucite
2010s Panamanian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Vanities
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Vanities
Mirror, Resin
2010s American Modern Vanities
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s American Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Ceramic
2010s American Modern Vanities
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Vanities
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vanities
Marble, Brass
2010s British Modern Vanities
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vanities
Mirror, Wood, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Vanities
Resin
2010s American Modern Vanities
Marble, Steel, Brass
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Vanities
Glass
1930s French Vintage Modern Vanities
Marble
2010s American Modern Vanities
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s American Modern Vanities
Velvet
2010s Turkish Modern Vanities
Wood
2010s British Modern Vanities
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Vanities
Teak
1950s Dutch Vintage Modern Vanities
Birch, Teak, Wenge, Plywood
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Vanities
Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Vanities
Brass
Early 20th Century British Modern Vanities
Walnut
1960s North American Vintage Modern Vanities
Metal
1970s Czech Vintage Modern Vanities
Birch, Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Ceramic, Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Ceramic, Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Porcelain, Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s American Modern Vanities
Lucite
1990s American Modern Vanities
Stainless Steel
2010s European Modern Vanities
Mirror
Late 20th Century American Modern Vanities
Late 20th Century Modern Vanities
Mirror
20th Century American Modern Vanities
Mirror
20th Century Italian Modern Vanities
Brass