Midcentury Side Table Magazine Rack
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gueridon
Brass
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Cord, Rope, Mirror
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Nesting Tables and Stacking Ta...
Metal, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Brass, Steel
20th Century Southeast Asian Chinese Chippendale Tray Tables
Bamboo, Wicker, Cane, Rattan, Wood, Bentwood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Tray Tables
Glass, Wood
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
Brass, Iron
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Sofa Tables
Leather, Bamboo, Cane
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Walnut
20th Century Philippine Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Bamboo, Leather, Wood
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Scandinavian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass, Wood
Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Pine
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass, Rosewood
Vintage 1960s European Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Bamboo, Formica
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Oak, Walnut
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Laminate, Walnut
Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Teak
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Plastic, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1970s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Leather, Rosewood
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Desks
Carrara Marble, Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Marble, Wrought Iron
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Rattan
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Baskets
Brass
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Baskets
Brass
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Teak
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Metal, Brass
Vintage 1950s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Marble, Metal
20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Suede, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Teak
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and St...
Walnut
Vintage 1950s European Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Metal
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Minimalist Side Tables
Acrylic
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Rosewood
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Brass
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Canvas, Rosewood
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Brass
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Midcentury Side Table Magazine Rack For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Midcentury Side Table Magazine Rack?
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.
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