Vintage Glass Shrimp Cocktail Bowls

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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.

Vintage, new and antique serving bowls are popular with collectors as well as cooks. While some serving bowls are merely decorative items, others are both eye-catching and functional.

The design and material of a bowl will vary depending on the period and location where it was made. Antique Chinese serving bowls are often exquisitely painted and made from fine porcelain. Colonial American wooden bowls are practical and elegant, able to hold brightly colored fruit or act as a serving dish at a family meal.

Along with wood, stone, metal and porcelain, there are also glass serving bowls. The most notable are made from Murano glass, named for the Murano Island in Venice where many of the world’s most famous glass objects have been produced. Glass serving bowls from the 19th through the mid-20th century are especially popular with collectors. Pieces from this era range from simple to ornate, frequently featuring gold or painted embellishments.

The styles of these bowls include art glass, which dates to the mid-19th century, and colorful carnival glass, which was introduced in the early 20th century. Carnival glass serving bowls were more affordable so they were used widely in homes. Depression glass, an iteration of glassware that was inexpensively mass-produced when people didn’t have much money to spend on decor during the 1920s and ’30s, featured bright colors. Milk glass, which had its heyday in the late 19th century, adds a touch of elegance to any table or display.

Antique and vintage serving bowls are desirable for their style, patterns and range of textures they can help introduce to a space. They are also prized for their rich history. Browse antique and vintage serving bowls on 1stDibs today.