Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Wood
1970s Slovak Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Chrome
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Hardwood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Velvet, Walnut
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Walnut
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Wood, Mahogany
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Teak
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Walnut, Raw Linen
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Velvet, Walnut
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Walnut
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Textile, Wood
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Walnut
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Wood
1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Chenille, Wood
1970s Canadian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Rosewood
1950s American Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Walnut
1960s Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Velvet, Teak
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Beech, Upholstery
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Walnut
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Teak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Iron
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Brass
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Cane, Wood
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Metal
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Wood
1950s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Metal
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Mahogany
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Sheepskin, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Metal, Brass
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Faux Leather, Cane, Teak
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Leather, Fabric, Mahogany
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Metal
1950s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Metal
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Ultrasuede, Walnut
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Bouclé, Upholstery, Foam, Wood, Bentwood, Polyester
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Brass, Iron
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Faux Leather, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Wood
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Stainless Steel
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Fabric, Wood
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair
Upholstery, Walnut
- 1
- ...
Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Vintage Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair?
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 legendary 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.
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.
Finding the Right lounge-chairs for You
While this specific seating is known to all for its comfort and familiar form, the history of how your favorite antique or vintage lounge chair came to be is slightly more ambiguous.
Although there are rare armchairs dating back as far as the 17th century, some believe that the origins of the first official “lounge chair” are tied to Hungarian modernist designer-architect Marcel Breuer. Sure, Breuer wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel when he introduced the Wassily lounge chair in 1925, but his seat was indeed revolutionary for its integration of bent tubular steel.
Officially, a lounge chair is simply defined as a “comfortable armchair,” which allows for the shape and material of the furnishings to be extremely diverse. Whether or not chaise longues make the cut for this category is a matter of frequent debate.
The Eames lounge chair, on the other hand, has come to define somewhat of a universal perception of what a lounge chair can be. Introduced in 1956, the Eames lounger (and its partner in cozy, the ottoman) quickly became staples in television shows, prestigious office buildings and sumptuous living rooms. Venerable American mid-century modern designers Charles and Ray Eames intended for it to be the peak of luxury, which they knew meant taking furniture to the next level of style and comfort. Their chair inspired many modern interpretations of the lounge — as well as numerous copies.
On 1stDibs, find a broad range of unique lounge chairs that includes everything from antique Victorian-era seating to vintage mid-century modern lounge chairs by craftspersons such as Hans Wegner to contemporary choices from today’s innovative designers.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Yes, Wassily chairs are indeed considered mid-century modern. Although the chair was initially designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925, it was re-released in the 1960s. Shop a collection of mid-century modern goods from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 3, 2023Some iconic chairs from the mid-century modern era include the Egg chair by Arne Jacobson, the La Chaise by Charles and Ray Eames and the Womb chair by Eero Saarinen. With their clean lines, organic shapes and simple details, these chairs reflect some of the key features of the style. Shop a variety of mid-century modern chairs on 1stDibs.
Read More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair Shook Modernism and Charmed Hollywood
The enduring appeal of the Barcelona chair is in the details.
Herman Miller Got Its Start in the Office, but Its Legacy Is in the Home
The brand that turned Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and George Nelson into mid-century household names is just as relevant today as it was six decades ago.
May’s Most Popular Interiors on Instagram
Our feed is filled with the world's most beautiful spaces. See the rooms our followers have deemed the best of the best this month.
April’s Most-Liked Interiors on Instagram
Our feed is filled with the world's most beautiful spaces. See the 10 our followers have deemed the best of the best this month.
See How New York City Designers Experiment on Their Own Homes
There are many lessons to be learned from the lofts, apartments and townhouses of architects and decorators in Manhattan and beyond.
Jeff Andrews Captures Old Hollywood Glamour in His Cinematic Spaces
Having created extravagant homes for reality TV’s biggest stars, the designer is stepping into the spotlight with his first book.
New Orleans’ Lee Ledbetter Makes Design Magic by Mixing Past and Present
The Louisiana-born and -bred architect talks to 1stdibs about the art of making timeless places that matter.