In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, antique Art Nouveau furniture reflects a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau movement developed in the decorative arts in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States.
ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN
ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
ANTIQUE ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Art Nouveau — which spanned furniture, architecture, jewelry and graphic design — can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. Although Art Deco and Art Nouveau were both in the forefront of turn-of-the-20th-century design, they are very different styles — Art Deco is marked by bold, geometric shapes while Art Nouveau incorporates dreamlike, floral motifs. The latter’s signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames.
The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. Impressionist artists were moved by the artistic tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and Japonisme — a term used to describe the appetite for Japanese art and culture in Europe at the time — greatly informed Art Nouveau.
The Art Nouveau style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants.
In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bed frames and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers.
The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.
Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass.
Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).
Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.
There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.
Art Nouveau French Advertising Lithograph Poster Printed by G. Delattre & Cie.
Located in Savannah, GA
This large, colorful advertising poster is a classic French lithograph, circa 1900. and was printted by the renowned Imprimerie G. Delattre et Cie in Paris with French tax stamp visi...
Glass, Wood, Paper
Large Majolica Pink Daisy Wall Pocket Delphin Massier, circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
Large Majolica Pink Daisy Wall Pocket signed Delphin Massier. 13 by 11 inches.
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Tapestry Designed by Alf Lundeby, Woven by Ragnhild Prestgard, Norway, 1913–1914
Located in Valby, 84
Executed in gobelin technique in wool and cotton, the field depicting a stylised enchanted forest through which deer move among slender elongated tree trunks, birds animating the upp...
Fabric
Rare Majolica Butterfly Wall Pocket Clement Massier, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
Rare Majolica butterfly wall pocket signed Clement Massier, Golfe Juan Circa 1900. H / 7 inches. W / 9 inches.
Ceramic, Faience
French Majolica White Daisy Plate Orchies, circa 1890
By Orchies
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica white daisy plate Orchies, circa 1890.
Ceramic
Pair of Art Nouveau Cast Iron, Gilded Shelf Brackets
Located in Toronto, CA
This is an exquisite pair of large Art Nouveau, cast iron, gilded shelf brackets from the early part of the twentieth century, most probably French. These fabulous shelf brackets e...
Iron
Josef Hoffmann Coat Hook for the Wiener Werkstaette, Re-Edition
By Woka Lamps, Josef Hoffmann, Wiener Werkstätte
Located in Vienna, AT
Sensational design from the very puristic period of Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstaette. Literature: Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstaette - Avantgarde Art Deco, Industrial Des...
Brass
Late 19th century antique landscape oil painting from Denmark
Located in Ebberup, DK
This is an original antique oil on plate landscape painting estimated to be from the late 1900s. The painting displays a romantic scenery in the forest with a small arched bridge cr...
Paint
Spectacular antique wall decoration fish gargoyle, patinated copper, 1900 France
Located in Wien, AT
Stunning huge wall decoration - a fish in the reeds, made of pure copper that has been patinated - an original from the Art Nouveau period, made around 1900 in France. There are many...
Copper
Majolica Dragonfly Wall Pocket Fives Lille, circa 1900
By Fives-Lille
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica dragonfly wall pocket by Fives Lille, circa 1900.
Ceramic
Pair of Majolica Carnations Wall Pocket Delphin Massier, circa 1880
Located in Austin, TX
Pair of Majolica Carnations Wall Pocket Delphin Massier, circa 1880. Height / 6 inches.
Ceramic
Antique Flemish Tapestry 91cm×122cm Musical 3x4 Decorative Panel Tapestry c.1650
Located in New York, NY
This exquisite 17th-century Flemish tapestry depicts a seated musical figure surrounded by scrolling foliage, floral motifs, and a richly detailed border. The wool and silk weave sti...
Wool, Silk
Majolica Dragonfly Wall Pocket Fives Lille, circa 1900
By Fives-Lille
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica dragonfly wall signed pocket by Fives Lille, circa 1900.
Ceramic
Alphonse Mucha "Les Saisons (The Seasons)" Lithographs
Located in New York, NY
The Seasons (Les Saisons) by Alphonse Mucha is among the most celebrated expressions of Art Nouveau printmaking: a suite of four poetic lithographs—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—each allegory embodied by an idealized female figure adorned with the flora and fauna of their eponymous season. Spring (Les Printemps) Spring emerges as an ethereal, blonde sylph—an air elemental—standing before a haze of apple blossoms. She is framed by a delicate wreath of blooming dogwood, a motif Mucha studied from life. She fashions a lyre-like instrument from a fresh green branch, her own flowing hair forming its strings, evoking the poetic ideal of the Aeolian harp—an instrument played not by human hands but by the wind itself. This association aligns her with Romantic notions of nature as an animating force, written by contemporaneous poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge. At her feet, songbirds—including the ortolan bunting, long associated in French culture with innocence, and the exotic red-billed leiothrix, prized for its melodious song—gather to animate the composition with sound. The floral border of her garment, composed of narcissi, asters, dianthus, and cuckoo flowers, reinforces the sense of the abundance that defines the season. Summer (L’Été) Summer is rendered in languid repose, seated beside a reflective pool, her body slackened by the heat. Crowned with vivid red poppies—flowers of both sleep and sensuality—she dips her feet into cool water, seeking relief from the oppressive warmth. Ivy curls around her form, her translucent white drapery appears to slip from her shoulders, heightening the sense of languor. Unlike the airiness of Spring, Summer is grounded in the body, evoking the sensuous, almost narcotic stillness of a long, sun-drenched afternoon. Autumn (L’Automne) Autumn is richly adorned, her deep auburn hair echoing the tones of fallen leaves that surround her. She turns her gaze not outward, but toward the ripe grapes she holds—a symbol of harvest and abundance. A crown of chrysanthemums, rendered in white and blue, rests upon her head, a flower closely associated with Mucha himself, who was known—according to his son Jiří Mucha—to wear one in his buttonhole. Her costume is elaborately detailed with filigree disk brooches inspired by the stage jewelry of Sarah Bernhardt, particularly in her role as Theodora. These jewelry designs by Mucha drew on historical sources ranging from Byzantine mosaics studied in Ravenna to the earlier Merovingian traditions of Frankish and Lombardic women, who wore paired brooches...
Gesso
French Faience Peacock Wall Pocket Saint Clement
Located in Austin, TX
Large French faience peacock Wall Pocket signed Saint Clement.
Ceramic, Majolica
Jean-Michel Basquiat The Paris Review, 1982 (Basquiat Tuxedo)
By (after) Jean-Michel Basquiat
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Jean-Michel Basquiat The Paris Review: 1982 The Paris Review book, featuring an interior spread of Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Tuxedo" (1982). Imagery features 8 detailed segments of thi...
Paper
Original Antique Advertising Poster Peugeot Bicycles Valentigney Doubs Thor
Located in London, GB
Original antique advertising poster for Peugeot bicycles featuring an Art Nouveau style image by the German illustrator and poster artist Walter Thor (1870-1929) of an elegantly dres...
Paper
Large Majolica Peacock Wall Pocket Jérôme Massier, circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
Large Majolica peacock Wall Pocket Jérôme Massier. 10.5 inches diameter.
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Antique early 20th century impressionist coal drawing by H P Carlsen (1855-1950)
Located in Ebberup, DK
This is an original coal drawing by Danish artist H. P. Carlsen from 1933. Hans Peter Carlsen (1855-1950) was a painter from Funen who attended the Royal Academy of Fine arts with f...
Paper
Art Nouveau Poster "La Fille aux Fleurs de Printemps", Framed, Limited Edition
Located in Darmstadt, DE
This limited-edition Art Nouveau poster, titled “La Fille aux Fleurs de Printemps”, is a modern homage to the elegance and floral romanticism of the fin-de-siècle period. Inspired b...
Pine, Paper
Josef Hoffmann Jugendstil Wiener Werkstaette Art Nouveau Coat Hook, Re-Edition
By Wiener Werkstätte, Josef Hoffmann, Woka Lamps
Located in Vienna, AT
Very elegant handmade coat-hook. Literature: Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstaette – Avant Garde Art Deco, Industrial Design, 1985 Vienna p. 49. Different hooks are available see pic...
Brass
Finnish Art Nouveau Wall Cabinet in Quartersawn Oak & Brass, Early 20th Century
Located in Helsinki, FI
A small Finnish Art Nouveau side / wall cabinet in gorgeous quartersawn oak wood and brass details. The cabinet has legs so it can be placed on the...
Brass
Pair Of Wrought Iron Corner Shelves, Art Nouveau, Circa 1910 Italian
Located in Milano, MI
Pair Of Polychrome Wrought Iron Corner Shelves Early 1900s Italian Art Nouveau artifacts composed of a sheet metal top with the edge profiled by a twisted creasing and decorated wit...
Wrought Iron
Green Sarreguemines Platter with Large Majolica Flowers, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
Large Majolica flowers (rose,mum) platter signed Sarreguemines, circa 1900.
Ceramic
French Faience Plate Emile Galle Saint Clement, Circa 1900
By Émile Gallé
Located in Austin, TX
French Faience plate signed Emile Galle Saint Clement Circa 1900. Decorated with cornucopia and flowers, butterfly.
Ceramic
Original Antique Poster Times Of The Day Eclat Du Jour Brightness Of Day Mucha
Located in London, GB
Original antique poster - Eclat Du Jour / Brightness of Day - by the notable Czech illustrator, graphic artist and painter Alphonse Mucha (Alfons Maria Mucha; 1860-1939) from his ser...
Paper
Art Nouveau Flower Tiles designed by Carreaux Faience de Florennes, Belgium
By Faience Manufacturing Company
Located in Antwerp, BE
Beautiful set of 30 tiles designed in the Art nouveau period by Carreaux Faience de Florennes, 1900, very rare relief art nouveau flower tiles in the colors yellow, brown, blue and ...
Ceramic, Clay
Small Majolica Pink Wild Rose Wall Pocket, Delphin Massier, circa 1880
Located in Austin, TX
Small Majolica pink wild rose wall pocket signed Delphin Massier, circa 1880
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Vintage Carved Hardwood Sterling Silver Overlaid Cane Walking Stick
Located in Shippensburg, PA
CARVED HARDWOOD CANE WITH STERLING SILVER OVERLAID HANDLE In the Art Nouveau taste, circa 20th century 34 1/2" H x 4 1/8" W (handle) A finely carved hardwood cane, the tapering sha...
Sterling Silver
Rare Majolica Pink Flower Wall Pocket Delphin Massier, circa 1880
Located in Austin, TX
Rare Majolica pink flower wall pocket signed Delphin Massier, circa 1880.
Ceramic
Original Vintage Print by Harry Clarke. C.1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Lithograph. Published C.1920 Unframed Free shipping
Paper
French Majolica Pansy Plate Jerome Massier, Circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica Pansy plate Jerome Massier Circa 1890.
Ceramic, Faience
Pair of brown Lacquer on Wood Panels Art Nouveau Floral Japanese Style .
Located in Miami, FL
Two Lacquer panels on wood Japanese inspiration soft colors , floral theme. Style Art Nouveau// Art Deco. French origine. Could fit perfectly above a pair of Art Deco or art Nouveau ...
Wood
Majolica Dragonfly Wall Pocket Fives Lille, circa 1900
By Fives-Lille
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica dragonfly wall pocket by Fives Lille, circa 1900.
Ceramic
Small German Majolica Iris Plate, Circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
Small German Majolica Iris Plate Circa 1900.
Ceramic
Mucha, Original Art Nouveau Poster, Biere de la Meuse, Pavot, Orge Houblon, 1897
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
Rare Art Nouveau poster created by Alphonse Mucha in 1897 to promote Bières de le Meuse. Artist: Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) Title: Bières de la Meuse Date: 1897 Size (w x h): 39 x 5...
Paper
Original Antique Travel Poster Monaco Monte Carlo Alphonse Mucha Art Nouveau
Located in London, GB
Original antique travel poster for Monaco Monte Carlo by the notable Czech illustrator, graphic artist and painter Alphonse Mucha (Alfons Maria Mucha; 186...
Paper
French Majolica Pansy Plate Jerome Massier, Circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica Pansy plate Jerome Massier Circa 1900.
Ceramic, Faience
Flowers in Vase Still Life Painting Amateur Signed 27cm
Located in Poperinge, BE
Vintage flower still life, amateur painting of yellow and red flowers in a vase, signed lower right, estimated late 20th century, Belgium. Charming and colorful painting, painted by...
Canvas
Original Antique Poster Times Of The Day Repos De La Nuit Night Rest Mucha
Located in London, GB
Original antique poster - Repos De La Nuit / Night's Rest - by the notable Czech illustrator, graphic artist and painter Alphonse Mucha (Alfons Maria Mucha; 1860-1939) from his serie...
Paper
French Majolica Wall Pocket With Flowers circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica Wall Pocket With Flowers Circa 1890. With a butterfly.
Ceramic, Faience
19th Century Majolica Flowers & Butterfly Plate Wasmuel
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century Majolica flowers and butterfly plate Wasmuel.
Ceramic
Rare Domed Wiener Werkstaette Vienna Art Nouveau Enameled Advertising Sign
Located in Vienna, AT
A rare, domed, black and white enameled Art Nouveau advertising sign for Wiener Werkstätte, founded by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser and Fritz ...
Metal, Enamel, Iron
Fireplace Doors Fire Screen Guard, Metal Copper Brass, Austria, Jugendstil, 1900
Located in Hausmannstätten, AT
An antique and gorgeous pair of fireplace doors manufactured in Austria, circa 1900. The doors are made of a thin metal grid which are decorated with ...
Iron, Metal, Brass
Antique Painting Still Life Oil on Canvas Signed L. Bouchu 1912
Located in Poperinge, BE
Antique charming painting, still life of flowers and very exclusive products for that time, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right L. Bouchu, France 1912. In good antique condi...
Canvas, Wood
Calvet Peep-Hole Brass Wall Decoration, Polished Finish, Spain, 2010+
By BD Barcelona Design, BD Art Editions, Antoni Gaudí
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Calvet Peep-Hole designed by Antoni Gaudí Solid cast brass with polished finish. An exact reproduction in both form and Material original metalwork fittings designed by Antoni ...
Brass
Cinema Poster Orsi 1916 Monumental Parisian Avant-Garde Titled A Vous Belle
Located in Savannah, GA
This historically significant monumental size French film poster by Orsi is titled "A Nous la Belle" (To you Beautiful ), and advertises a showing at the "Orsi Théâtre des Arts". und...
Laminate, Plexiglass, Paper
Antique Chromolithograph Pair, Ceramics Through the Ages, 1898
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique Chromolithograph Pair, Ceramics Through the Ages, Meyers 1898 This attractive pair of original chromolithographs illustrates the history and artistic development of ceramics...
Paper
Art Nouveau Glass & Historic Glassmaking, Pair of Meyers Chromolithographs, 1898
Located in Langweer, NL
Art Nouveau Glass & Historic Glassmaking, Pair of Meyers Chromolithographs This attractive pair of original chromolithographs was published by Meyers Konversations-Lexikon in Leipzig in 1898 and illustrates the remarkable history and artistic development of glassmaking from antiquity through the Art Nouveau period. The first plate, titled "Glaskunstindustrie I," presents an international survey of historic glass objects. Featured examples include Phoenician-Assyrian glass, Roman vessels, Venetian millefiori glass, Venetian network glass, Egyptian mosque lamps, Persian bowls, German enamelled glass...
Paper
Original Vintage Print by Harry Clarke. C.1920
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Lithograph. Published C.1920 Unframed Free shipping
Paper
VINTAGE Scandinavian Tapestry Flatwoven European Kilim 145x191cm Signed 5x6 Rug
Located in New York, NY
Vintage European Kilim Flatwoven Rug Flatwoven Kelim Rug Handmade Tapestry "This is a beautiful European kilim Rug. This magnificent flatwoven rug and t...
Wool
19th French Majolica Asparagus Plate Iris Longchamp
By Longchamp
Located in Austin, TX
Rare 19th French Majolica Asparagus Octogonal Plate signed Iris Longchamp. Iris, dragonfly and yellow daisies.
Ceramic
Mucha, Job, Original Art Nouveau Belle Epoque Poster, Gold, Cigarette Paper 1896
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
Original Art Nouveau Vintage Poster dating from 1896 by Alphonse Mucha for Job, Cigarette paper. Artist: Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) Tit...
Paper
Pair of Plaster Wall Shelves with Goat or Sheepskin Early 20th Century
Located in Milano, MI
Pair of plaster wall brackets depicting a goat or ram, made in the early 20th century Ø cm 16 Ø cm 16 h cm 22 Antique ceramic shelves are fascinating objects that combine functiona...
Gesso
Large Majolica Purple Pansy Wall Pocket Massier, circa 1880
Located in Austin, TX
Oversize Majolica purple pansy wall pocket Massier, circa 1880.
Ceramic
19th Century Majolica Flowers & Butterfly Plate Wasmuel
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century Majolica flowers and butterfly plate Wasmuel.
Ceramic
Pair Of Rare Art Nouveau Stain Glass Windows With Scrolling Tulip & Bud Motif
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
Hard to capture the beauty of these rare stained glass Art Nouveau windows. They come alive when let by natural sunlight to display dazzling warm hu...
Stained Glass
Art Nouveau Alphonse Mucha Original JOB Poster, 1898
Located in North Bergen, NJ
Alphonse Mucha 1898 JOB poster. Excellent condition with beautiful frame under plexiglass ready to hang. Poster for 'Job' cigarette paper (1898) 'JOB' is a ...
Paper
Poster Rare Original French Art Nouveau – Journée du Poilu, 1915
Located in Kastrup, DK
Rare Original French Art Nouveau Poster – Journée du Poilu, 1915 €404 Add to Cart Description Rare original French Art Nouveau poster, desig...
Glass, Wood, Paper
19th French Majolica Asparagus Plate Iris Longchamp
By Longchamp
Located in Austin, TX
Rare 19th French Majolica Asparagus octogonal plate signed Iris Longchamp. Iris, dragonfly and yellow daisies.
Ceramic