Modern Vases
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s American Vintage Modern Vases
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Vases
Porcelain
1980s British Vintage Modern Vases
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century German Modern Vases
Ceramic, Pottery
1980s British Vintage Modern Vases
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century American Modern Vases
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Vases
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Onyx, Marble
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Stone, Marble, Onyx
2010s Italian Modern Vases
Cement
2010s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Clay, Porcelain
1970s American Vintage Modern Vases
Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Vases
Porcelain
20th Century French Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Vases
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Gold Leaf
1980s American Vintage Modern Vases
Art Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vases
Art Glass
2010s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Porcelain, Clay
2010s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Porcelain, Clay
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Murano Glass
20th Century European Modern Vases
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
Glass
2010s French Modern Vases
Stoneware
2010s Chilean Modern Vases
Stone