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Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

POSTMODERN STYLE

Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.

ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Emerges during the 1960s; popularity explodes during the ’80s
  • A reaction to prevailing conventions of modernism by mainly American architects
  • Architect Robert Venturi critiques modern architecture in his Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966)
  • Theorist Charles Jencks, who championed architecture filled with allusions and cultural references, writes The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977)
  • Italian design collective the Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, meets for the first time (1980) 
  • Memphis collective debuts more than 50 objects and furnishings at Salone del Milano (1981)
  • Interest in style declines, minimalism gains steam

CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Dizzying graphic patterns and an emphasis on loud, off-the-wall colors
  • Use of plastic and laminates, glass, metal and marble; lacquered and painted wood 
  • Unconventional proportions and abundant ornamentation
  • Playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art

POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.

Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendinia onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.

Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group,  which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.

Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals. 

After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.

On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.

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Style: Post-Modern
Craft Made Wood Box by Larry Dern c 1980's
Located in New York, NY
Exceptional hand made wood jewelry box by noted California artist Larry Dern, circa 1980's. The box features two burl swing open doors at the top which open to reveal a sliding jewel...
Category

Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Suede, Wenge, Burl

Sculptural Decorative Jewelry Box in the Betty Cobonpue Style. C 1980s
Located in Miami, FL
Vintage Post Modern Split Reed Decorative Jewelry Box in the Betty Cobonpue Style. Circa 1980s. Unsigned Features a split reed gracefully curved detail over a textured stone frame wi...
Category

1980s Unknown Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Reed

Elsa Peretti leather jewelry box /trinket heart shape love , for Tiffany & Co
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Beautiful heart shape, Love leather box designed by the well known artist / designer Elsa Peretti.
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Leather

1980s Lacquered Jewelry Box by Hollis Fingold, Handmade painted wood, Signed USA
Located in Chicago, IL
Blue Lacquered box handmade in the 1980s by Hollis Fingold at Radar Design in Denver, Colorado. Airbrushed paint on wood. Signed. This box is an example of the non-conformity and ev...
Category

1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Wood

Snakeskin Jewelry Box
Located in Clermont, FL
A vintage (1980's) faux python skin jewelry box, with velvet interior.
Category

20th Century American Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Faux Leather

Invisible Cities Box II by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Invisible Cities box II by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 10 x H 7 cm Materials: Crystal quartz, marble These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a small artisanal workshop...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Quartz, Marble

Invisible Cities Box III by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Invisible Cities Box III by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 13 x H 8 cm Materials: Crystal quartz, marble. These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a small artisanal workshop. Please note that variations and slight imperfections are part of its design and unique charm. Lél is an artistic collective dedicated to preserving and evolving the 16th century Florentine and Mughal art of handcrafted stone inlay. Lél’s founder, Farhana Asad, became fascinated by the technique of inlaid stonework known as parchin...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Quartz, Marble

Memory of a Rose Box I by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Memory of a rose box I by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 19 x W 8.9 x H 5 cm Materials: marble, wood These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Marble

Set of 2, Plizé Boxes, L White - M Blue by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2, plizé boxes, L white - M blue by Made by Choice with Hanna Anonen Dimensions: W17 x D17 x H22 cm (L), W17 x D17 x H15.5 cm (M) Materials: Birch Plywood Also available:...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Birch, Plywood

Brazilian Agate Onyx and Wood Round Jewelry Trinket Box, Brazil, 1980s
Located in New York, NY
A round Brazilian agate onyx and wood trinket or jewelry box, in the Modern style Post-Modern period, circa-late 20th century, 1980s early 1990s, Brazil. Box has a rich brown wood wi...
Category

Late 20th Century Brazilian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Onyx, Agate

Set of 2, White Plizé Boxes, Large by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2, white Plizé boxes, large by Made by Choice ( White base, red, white top) Dimensions: W 17 x D 17 x H 22 cm Materials: Birch plywood Also available: Blue, green, small ...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Birch, Plywood

Italian Gilt and Blue Ceramic 1970s-1980s Box with Pois and Strap
Located in Varese, Lombardia
This vintage box is made from hand painted and gilt ceramic with a pois and strap relief decoration. it was designed and manufactured in Italy between the 1970s and the 1980s. The bo...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Ceramic

Betty Cobonpue Sculptural Split Reed Decorative/Jewelry Box, 1980s
Located in Round Rock, TX
Offered is a lovely sculptural split reed decorative box designed by Betty Cobonpue for her "Scultura" line produced in the 1980s. This could also function as a jewelry box. Cobon...
Category

1980s Philippine Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Reed, Mahogany

Set of 3 Zenith Décor Boxes by Formaminima
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 3 Zenith Décor Boxes by Formaminima Dimensions: Box 1: H 5 x L 10.5 x D 5 cm. Box 2: H 5 x L 5 x D 5 cm. Box 3: H 15 x L 5 x D 5 cm. Plate: H 0.3 ...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Glass

Postmodern Red Lacquer Wood Panel Jewelry Box by Maitland Smith
Located in San Diego, CA
This beautiful box by Maitland Smith exudes style and glamour. This design from the late 1980s is glamorous and functional. The postmodern lines in alm...
Category

1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Travertine

Maitland Smith Vintage Tessellated Stone Travertine Box 1970s
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Vintage Tessellated square shape decorative lidded marble box by Maitland Smith. Measures: Square 4" x 4" x 2" H. Maitland Smith 1970s tessellated travertine table...
Category

Late 20th Century Philippine Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Stone, Travertine, Marble, Brass

Postmodern Marble Travertine Jewelry Box by Maitland Smith
Located in San Diego, CA
This beautiful box by Maitland Smith exudes style and glamour. This design from the late 1970s is glamorous and functional. The postmodern lines in almost a pedestal structure, are covered in a beautiful veined travertine marble in hues of dark pinks. The defined pink marble lines...
Category

1970s American Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Travertine, Brass

Kountess Vase by Purho
Located in Geneve, CH
Kountess vase by Purho Dimensions: D 25 x H 18 cm Materials: glass Other colours and dimensions are available. Purho is a new protagonist of made i...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Glass

Medium, Blue Plizé Box by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Medium, blue plizé box by Made By Choice with Hanna Anonen (blue base, yellow, orange top) Dimensions: W17 x D17 x H15.5 cm Materials: birch plywood Also available: white, blue,...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Plywood

Large, White Plizé Box by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Large, white Plizé box by Made by Choice ( White base, red, white top) Dimensions: W 17 x D 17 x H 22 cm Materials: Birch plywood Also available: Blue, green, small & medium. ...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Birch, Plywood

Alessandro Albrizzi Italian White Perspex Boxes 1990s
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
Italian perspex plexiglass jewelry or storage boxes designed by Franco Albrizzi, with engraved mark under base, Italy 1990s. Please note that ...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Plexiglass

Set of 4, 2 Plizé Boxes & 2 Beebee Jars by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 4, 2 plizé boxes & 2 beebee jars by Made by Choice with Hanna Anonen Dimensions: W17 x D17 x H22 cm (L - white), W17 x D17 x H15.5 cm (M - blue) ( Plizé boxes) D18 x H30 cm ...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Birch, Plywood

Set of 4, Plizé Boxes, 2l White, 2M Blue by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 4, Plizé boxes, 2L white - 2M blue by Made by Choice Dimensions: W17 x D17 x H22 cm (L), W17 x D17 x H15.5 cm (M) Materials: birch plywood Also available: blue, white, gr...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Birch, Plywood

Set of 5, 2 Plizé Boxes & 2 Beebee Jars, 1 Merry Side Table by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 5, 2 Plizé boxes & 2 beebee jars, 1 merry side table by Made by Choice with Hanna Anonen Dimensions: W17 x D17 x H22 cm (L - white), W17 x D17 x H15.5 cm (M - blue) ( Plizé b...
Category

2010s Finnish Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Birch, Plywood

Invisible Cities Box IV by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Invisible Cities box IV by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 10 x H 7 cm Materials: Crystal Quartz, marble These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a small artisanal workshop. Please note that variations and slight imperfections are part of its design and unique charm. Lél is an artistic collective dedicated to preserving and evolving the 16th Century Florentine and Mughal art of handcrafted stone inlay. Lél’s founder, Farhana Asad, became fascinated by the technique of inlaid stonework known as parchin...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Quartz, Marble

Triangular Travertine Jewelry Box by Maitland-Smith, 1970s
Located in View Park, CA
A triangular travertine jewelry box attributed to Maitland-Smith, late 20th century. Marble detailing, including the sphere which works as a lid ...
Category

Late 20th Century Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Travertine, Marble

Night Lily Box by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Night lily box by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 12.7 x W 12.7 x H 5 cm. Materials: Lapis lazuli, onyx, marble. These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a small artisanal workshop. Please note that variations and slight imperfections are part of its design and unique charm. Lél is an artistic collective dedicated to preserving and evolving the 16th century Florentine and Mughal art of handcrafted stone inlay. Lél’s founder, Farhana Asad, became fascinated by the technique of inlaid stonework known as parchin kari...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, Marble

Invisible Cities Box I by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Invisible Cities Box I by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 13 x H 8 cm Materials: crystal quartz, marble These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a small artisanal workshop....
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Marble, Quartz

Maitland Smith Post Modern White Tessellated Hexagonal Stone Box 1980's
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Post Modern 1980s Maitland Smith Marble Covered Box with hinged lid and a round polished brass pull on top. Vintage Postmodern geometric design decorative box white tessellated stone...
Category

Late 20th Century Asian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Stone

Memory of a Rose Box II by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Memory of a rose box II by Studio Lel. Dimensions: D19 x W8.9 x H5 cm. Materials: marble, wood These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Marble

Black Endless Dance Box by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
Black endless dance box by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 12.7 x W 12.7 x H 5 cm. Materials: Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, Marble These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a smal...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, Marble

White Endless Dance Box by Studio Lel
Located in Geneve, CH
White endless dance box by Studio Lel Dimensions: D 12.7 x W 12.7 x H 5 cm. Materials: Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, Marble These are handmade from semiprecious stone and marble in a smal...
Category

2010s Pakistani Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, Marble

Marble Box with Jewish Star of David Design
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful modern style or Postmodern period marble and brass box with Jewish Star of David design, circa late-20th century, 1980s, 90s. Box, att...
Category

Late 20th Century Philippine Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Stone, Marble, Brass

Set of 3 Dazzle Décor Boxes by Formaminima
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 3 Dazzle Décor boxes by Formaminima One of a kind. Dimensions: Box 1: H 5 x L 10.5 x D 5 cm. Box 2: H 5 x L 5 x D 5 cm. Box 3: H 15 x L 5 x D 5 cm. Plate: H 0.3 x L 21 x D 21 cm. Materials: Handcrafted pink crystal glass...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Glass

Set of 3 Sunrise Décor Boxes by Formaminima
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 3 Sunrise Décor boxes by Formaminima Limited edition Dimensions: box 1: H 5 x L 10.5 x D 5 cm. Box 2: H 5 x L 5 x D 5 cm. Box 3: H 15 x L 5 x D 5 ...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Glass

Esa Fedrigolli Sculptural Bronze 1980s Italian Box
Located in New York, NY
A sculptural decorative lidded bronze Italian box designed by Esa Fedrigolli for Esart. Signed
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Bronze

Lucite Box, 1990s
Located in New York, NY
A square Lucite jewelry or trinket box, circa 1990s. Great to hold jewelry or other small items on a vanity, desk, nightstand table, etc. Box measures: 3.5" square. Other items show...
Category

Late 20th Century Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Lucite

Karl Springer Lacquered Snakeskin Decorative Box
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A scrupulously-crafted, decorative trinket or jewelry box by Karl Springer comprising a rectangular body with a domed, hinged lid and a suede-lined interior. The outside is wrapped e...
Category

1980s American Vintage Post-Modern Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Suede, Animal Skin

Post-modern jewelry boxes for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Post-Modern jewelry boxes for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original jewelry boxes, popular names associated with this style include Formaminima, Maitland Smith, Alessandro Albrizzi, and Betty Cobonpue. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee.

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