Modern Paperweights
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Indian Modern Paperweights
Brass
2010s English Modern Paperweights
Cement
21st Century and Contemporary Maltese Modern Paperweights
Art Glass, Blown Glass
2010s Turkish Modern Paperweights
Wood, Oak
2010s American Modern Paperweights
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
2010s English Modern Paperweights
Cement
Late 20th Century Modern Paperweights
Onyx
20th Century English Modern Paperweights
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Sommerso
20th Century American Modern Paperweights
Crystal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Paperweights
Stainless Steel, Iron
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
Mid-20th Century American Modern Paperweights
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paperweights
Lucite
1970s Vintage Modern Paperweights
Onyx
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
20th Century American Modern Paperweights
Metal
2010s Argentine Modern Paperweights
Brass, Bronze
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Paperweights
Resin
Late 20th Century American Modern Paperweights
Crystal
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Paperweights
Alabaster, Marble
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
2010s Sicilian Modern Paperweights
Terracotta
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Paperweights
Resin
2010s Korean Modern Paperweights
Shell
20th Century Modern Paperweights
Glass, Blown Glass
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Marble, Silver
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
2010s Mexican Modern Paperweights
Resin
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
1970s American Vintage Modern Paperweights
Bronze
1990s Unknown Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Paperweights
Murano Glass
Late 20th Century American Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
20th Century French Modern Paperweights
Crystal
20th Century Scottish Modern Paperweights
Blown Glass
1990s American Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Brass
20th Century Japanese Modern Paperweights
Crystal
20th Century English Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
Late 20th Century Japanese Modern Paperweights
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paperweights
Stone
Late 20th Century Modern Paperweights
Glass
20th Century American Modern Paperweights
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paperweights
Art Glass
1950s American Vintage Modern Paperweights
Glass, Blown Glass
1990s American Modern Paperweights
Gold
1970s European Vintage Modern Paperweights
Blown Glass
Late 20th Century French Modern Paperweights
Crystal
20th Century Unknown Modern Paperweights
Glass





