Mid Century Modern Decorative Plates
Vintage 1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Stoneware
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal
Vintage 1960s Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
Ceramic, Glass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Desk Sets
Nickel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Paperweights
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century German Modern Decorative Bowls
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-...
Ceramic, Stoneware
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Brass, Nickel
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Porcelain
Late 20th Century American Art Deco Animal Sculptures
Silver Plate, Chrome, Nickel
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Porcelain
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Jars
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Stoneware
Vintage 1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Copper, Enamel
Late 20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Nickel
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
Silver Plate
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Ceramic
Vintage 1980s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate, Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Desk Sets
Silver Plate
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Metal, Silver Plate
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
Silver Plate
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Silver
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
Silver Plate
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Letter Openers
Silver Plate
20th Century Unknown Organic Modern More Desk Accessories
Agate, Onyx, Quartz
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Marble, Metal, Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Silver Plate
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Silver Plate
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Mounted Objects
Ceramic
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Mounted Objects
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Pottery
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Russian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Nickel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Iron
Mid-20th Century Ecuadorean Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
Vintage 1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Bronze
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Porcelain
20th Century Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Majolica, Pottery, Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Silver Plate
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Barware
Gold Plate, Brass
Late 20th Century Japanese Scandinavian Modern Paperweights
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Mounted Objects
Metal
Late 20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Copper, Enamel
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Ceramic, Pottery
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
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Mid Century Modern Decorative Plates For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much are Mid Century Modern Decorative Plates?
A Close Look at Mid-century Modern Furniture
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern 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.
ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Emerged during the mid-20th century
- Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
- A heyday of innovation in postwar America
- Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
- A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
- Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
- Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
- Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
- Promotion of functionality
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
- Charles and Ray Eames
- Eero Saarinen
- Milo Baughman
- Florence Knoll
- Harry Bertoia
- Isamu Noguchi
- George Nelson
- Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa
ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS
- Eames lounge chair
- Nelson daybed
- Florence Knoll sofa
- Egg chair
- Womb chair
- Noguchi coffee table
- Barcelona chair
VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s 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 pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.
Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.
Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer 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. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture 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, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
- 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 25, 2019
Mid-century home decor is characterized by clean lines, geometric shapes and materials like wood and tweed.
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