Sottsass Loto Table
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Granite, Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Tables
Marble, Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble, Metal
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights an...
Brass
2010s American Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Art Deco Table Lamps
Hide, Wood, Parchment Paper
21st Century and Contemporary English Folk Art Side Tables
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
Brass
2010s Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Bronze
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass, Fiberglass
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Fiberglass
2010s Minimalist Tables
Travertine
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
Wood, Walnut
2010s Indian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
Vintage 1970s European Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Nylon, Beech
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Scientific Instruments
Metal
Recent Sales
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
Marble
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble, Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
Marble, Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble, Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble, Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Dining Room Tables
Carrara Marble, Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble, Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Tables
Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Tables
Marble
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble, Metal
Ettore Sottsass for sale on 1stDibs
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.
Finding the Right tables for You
The right vintage, new or antique tables can help make any space in your home stand out.
Over the years, the variety of tables available to us, as well as our specific needs for said tables, has broadened. Today, with all manner of these must-have furnishings differing in shape, material and style, any dining room table can shine just as brightly as the guests who gather around it.
Remember, when shopping for a dining table, it must fit your dining area, and you need to account for space around the table too — think outside the box, as an oval dining table may work for tighter spaces. Alternatively, if you’ve got the room, a Regency-style dining table can elevate any formal occasion at mealtime.
Innovative furniture makers and designers have also redefined what a table can be. Whether it’s an unconventional Ping-Pong table, a brass side table to display your treasured collectibles or a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk to add an air of nostalgia to your loft, your table can say a lot about you.
The visionary work of French designer Xavier Lavergne, for example, includes tables that draw on the forms of celestial bodies as often as they do aquatic creatures or fossils. Elsewhere, Italian architect Gae Aulenti, who looked to Roman architecture in crafting her stately Jumbo coffee table, created clever glass-topped mobile coffee tables that move on bicycle tires or sculpted wood wheels for Fontana Arte.
Coffee and cocktail tables can serve as a room’s centerpiece with attention-grabbing details and colors. Glass varieties will keep your hardwood flooring and dazzling area rugs on display, while a marble or stone coffee table in a modern interior can showcase your prized art books and decorative objects. A unique vintage desk or writing table can bring sophistication and even a bit of spice to your work life.
No matter your desired form or function, a quality table for your living space is a sound investment. On 1stDibs, browse a collection of vintage, new and antique bedside tables, mid-century end tables and more .