About Mid-Century Modern Design

Mid-century Modern describes an era of style and design that began roughly in the mid-1940s and continued into the mid-1960s. It is an organic offshoot of Modern design that’s often associated with the casual furnishings and carefree look of Eichler tract homes in suburban California during the 1950s.

In addition, the Mid-century Modern era is noted for the mass-production of household objects, from furniture to clocks to lamps to radios, because many of its chief designers (Charles and Ray Eames foremost among them) made it a requirement that their work be affordable to the average homeowner rather than the wealthy elite...

The United States, Britain, Japan, and Scandinavia were centers for the Mid Century Modern aesthetic. In the U.S., Herman Miller produced plywood, fiberglass, and wire-mesh chairs for Charles and Ray Eames (the metal chairs with covers designed by Alexander Girard are highly collectible), as well as the famous Marshmallow sofas for George Nelson. Knoll made insect-like wire chairs for Harry Bertoia and cool, white-and-red fiberglass-and-aluminum Tulip chairs for Eero Saarinen.

In England, Ernest Race produced handsome sideboards and economical folding deck chairs in the Mid-century Modern style. Fellow Brit Robin Day worked with Hille Ltd. to create everything from convertible beds to tables and chairs. He is also credited with designing the first polypropylene stacking chair.

Japanese designer and sculptor Isamu Noguchi, a giant of Mid-century Modern, designed for both Knoll and Herman Miller. His three-piece wood and glass table from 1948 has been a mainstay of the Miller catalog for more than half a century, while the bases on his tables for Knoll used metal rods in a way that was very similar to some of the Eames’s chairs. Japanese-American George Nakashima, who was interred during World War II, designed for Knoll but also brought a woodworker’s sensibility to his furniture, often using the natural and even deformed shapes of his raw materials to lead him.

And then there were the Scandinavians. Børge Mogensen designed chairs of elegant simplicity that harmonized form with functionality, while his Sleigh Chair was as whimsical as its name suggests. Arne Jacobsen’s Swan chair held its users in a palm-like embrace. Finn Juhl took a more sculptural approach for his wood-frame seats — even a Juhl coffee table looks like a work of art. As for Hans Wegner, he made a chair that was so highly regarded it was used by Nixon and Kennedy in a 1960 presidential debate and has since become known simply as The Chair.

Furniture was not the only product of note to come out of the Mid-century Modern movement. For some reason, clocks, especially wall clocks, became a design force to be reckoned with. When George Nelson wasn’t designing furniture for Herman Miller, he was working with the Howard Miller Clock Co. on a series of marvelous modern wall clocks. He made clocks whose hands pointed to colored balls on the ends of slender shafts; clocks that resembled sunbursts, sunflowers, and asterisks; and even a clock that suggested a human eye.

Nelson and Miller were also responsible for the Bubble Lamps, which were made of steel and translucent plastic and were designed to hang from the ceilings of Mid-century Modern homes, either as individual globes, ellipses, and cylinders or in clusters. Other lamps popular during this period, and produced by a wide range of designers and manufacturers, were the pole-tension lamps that lit up corners of livings rooms and the "atomic" boomerang lamp shades designed for table lamps.

Nothing escaped Mid-century Modern, from transistor radios to lava lamps, which had yet to be associated with the psychedelic 1960s still a few years a way. It was perhaps the last time that design drove the look and feel of popular culture. Soon, the roles would be irrevocably reversed.

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Interviews & Articles

An Interview with Scott Buckwald, Prop Master for the Hit TV Show Mad Men

I always wanted to work in film, but I didn’t have anybody in my family who worked in the film business. I’ve been … [more]

An Interview With Eames Collector and Mid Century Design Aficionado Steve Cabella

As a teenager, I collected everything from vintage bicycles to Coca-Cola to Victorian stuff. Once I realized some o… [more]

An Interview with 20th Century Decorative Arts and Mid Century Modern Expert Frank Maraschiello

Mid-century Modern used the technology of mass production to produce good-looking pieces of furniture out of the la… [more]



Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

The Mid Century Modernist

The Mid Century Modernist

Stephen Coles' really visual blog dedicated to the Modernist era of design from 1940 to 1970 (aka Mid-century Moder… [read review or visit site]

Herman Miller Consortium Collection

Herman Miller Consortium Collection

This website showcases several hundred pieces of furniture, held by thirteen museums, that were designed for Herman… [read review or visit site]

EamesCollector.com

EamesCollector.com

Steven Cabella's personal homage to Charles and Ray Eames. This site is as clean and visually appealing as the Eame… [read review or visit site]

Work of Charles and Ray Eames

Work of Charles and Ray Eames

This Library of Congress microsite is an overview of the postwar modern design work of Charles (1907-78) and Ray (1… [read review or visit site]

Classic Modern

Classic Modern

Get a taste of how homes were lit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s with the Danish retro-style lighting designs featured on… [read review or visit site]


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Herman Miller Eames Chair Santos Palisander + Ottoman$2,000 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 12 watchers
Danish Teak Credenza Sideboard Mid Century Modern Eames$1,521 Ends Thursday 26 bids 74 watchers
Eames Lounge Chair + Ottoman Herman Miller Rosewood$1,325 Ends Saturday 9 bids 57 watchers
Danish Modern Teak Dining Chairs Mid Century Vintage$1,075 Ends Wednesday 22 bids 15 watchers
Gerald Thurston Lightolier Table Lamp - Sarfatti, Eames$1,026 Ends Monday 16 bids 68 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Daybed Sofa Eames Era 1950s$910.00 Ends in 15 hours 2 bids 58 watchers
2 Dux Danish Lounge Chair Mid Century Modern Eames $860.00 Ends in 20 hours 12 bids 188 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Teak Mini Credenza Eames Era$860.00 Ends Thursday 5 bids 62 watchers
Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman Brazilian Rosewood$810.00 Ends Monday 6 bids 48 watchers
Eames Modern Mid-century Knoll Era Sofa-retro! Tan$799.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 7 watchers
Mid Century Modern Credenza Sideboard Mccobb Eames Era$680.00 Ends in 17 hours 10 bids 62 watchers
Vinatge Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair Fritz Hansen Eames Era$660.00 Ends Wednesday 4 bids 64 watchers
Paul Frankl Chest Of Drawers Mid-century Modern Deco$600.00 Ends in 18 hours 1 bid 17 watchers
Mid Century Modern Dresser Credenza Eames Era Danish 50$599.99 Ends in 17 hours 28 bids 71 watchers
Eames Herman Miller Rosewood Lounge Chair Ottoman 1970s$599.00 Ends Sunday 1 bid 23 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Surfboard Tile Top Table Teak$599.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 27 watchers
Orig Eames Herman Miller Rar Mid-century Rocking Chair$599.00 Ends Friday 1 bid 26 watchers
Ib Kofod Larsen Selig Lounge Chairs Danish Modern$535.88 Ends Wednesday 5 bids 32 watchers
Danish Modern Bookcase Credenza Teak Eames Era $535.00 Ends Tuesday 20 bids 95 watchers
Danish Modern Selig Walnut Lounge Chairs Mid Century$530.00 Ends Thursday 23 bids 61 watchers
Peter Hvidt Danish Modern Chair France &son Eames Era$510.00 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 30 watchers
Danish Modern Teak Dining Chairs Mid Century 1970s$510.00 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 38 watchers
Huge Vintage Rasmus Danish Modern Rosewood Dining Table$499.00 Ends Saturday 1 bid 16 watchers
Mid Century Allen Sapp Original Oil Painting On Board $475.00 Ends Friday 1 bid 11 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Sofa Couch, Retro Eames Era$455.00 Ends in 17 hours 4 bids 80 watchers
Danish Modern Teak Desk - Lovig Of Denmark$452.00 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 22 watchers
2 Mid Century Side End Table Danish Modern Eames Kagan $449.00 Ends in 19 hours 9 bids 94 watchers
Herman Miller Eames Rare Navy Blue Shell Side Chairs 4$411.11 Ends in 18 hours 14 bids 60 watchers
Herman Miller Eames Design Walnut Stool $405.00 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 18 watchers
Walnut Dining Table Mid Century Modern 1950 S Large $405.00 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 18 watchers
Paul Mccobb Mid Century Modern Lounge Chair Eames Era$399.00 Ends Sunday 1 bid 18 watchers
Herman Miller Charles Eames Dcw-vintage$395.00 Ends Friday 1 bid 13 watchers
1950's Architectural Pottery Peanut Planter Eames Era$392.00 Ends in 16 hours 5 bids 24 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Italy Lounge Chair Eames Era$380.00 Ends Sunday 1 bid 6 watchers
Pair Danish Modern Hanging Lamps Henningsen Space Age$375.00 Ends in 16 hours 10 bids 20 watchers
Ekornes Stressless Lounge Chair Ottoman Danish Eames $355.00 Ends Tuesday 6 bids 45 watchers
Jens Quistgaard Rosewood Palisander Tray Dansk Eames$355.00 Ends Monday 4 bids 34 watchers
Mid-century Danish Modern Kodawood Chair Eames Plycraft$355.00 Ends Tuesday 10 bids 61 watchers
Edward Fields(?) Carpet.vintage Mid Century Modern$349.00 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 8 watchers
Danish Mid Century Modern Credenza Teak Eames Era $330.00 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 41 watchers
Danish Modern Teak Buffet Credenza Mid Century Table$325.00 Ends Thursday 13 bids 37 watchers
Teak Mid Century Credenza Eames Era Danish Modern$306.99 Ends Tuesday 5 bids 10 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern - Paul Laszlo Lounge Chair$305.00 Ends Thursday 14 bids 45 watchers
Charles Eames Wwii Wood Leg Splint In Orig Wrapper$300.00 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 29 watchers
Mid Century Modern Coffee Table Bench Eames Era Danish$299.99 Ends Tuesday 16 bids 56 watchers
Mid Century Modern ~adrian Pearsall~ Tall Lounge Chair$299.99 Ends Saturday 1 bid 11 watchers
Panthella Table Lamp Verner Panton , Eames Space Era$282.00 Ends Monday 7 bids 24 watchers
Danish Modern Teak Entry Chest Side Table Eames Era$275.00 Ends Wednesday 10 bids 62 watchers
Eames Herman Miller Walnut Time Life Stool Authentic$274.74 Ends in 16 hours 18 bids 34 watchers
Drexel Desk Danish Mid Century Modern Barney Flagg$265.00 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 45 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Walnut Dresser Credenza Eames$265.00 Ends Tuesday 11 bids 26 watchers
Danish Modern Teak "z" Chair By Poul Jensen For Selig$255.00 Ends Saturday 3 bids 38 watchers
Danish Modern Wegner Type Teak Cane Lounge Chair Eames $255.00 Ends Thursday 11 bids 54 watchers
Eames Herman Miller Walnut Time Life Stool Authentic$251.11 Ends in 16 hours 3 bids 31 watchers
Cobalt Blu Eames Aluminum Group Arm Chair Herman Miller$250.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 5 watchers
Safari Chairs Mid Century Modern Arne Norell Style$250.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 9 watchers
Rare Chemold Fiberglass Chair; Greta Grossman Eames Era$250.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 12 watchers
Mid Century Danish Modern Teak Dining Chairs Eames Era $250.00 Ends Tuesday 7 bids 42 watchers
Danish Modern/mid Century Stool Ottoman Set Mccobb Era$245.00 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 6 watchers
Modrern Eames George Nelson Jere Styl Metal Sculpture$225.99 Ends in 16 hours 1 bid 4 watchers

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Recent News: Mid-Century Modern

Source: Google News

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