Art Deco Buffets: Classic Art Deco Style

A while ago I wrote about how to identify Art Deco furniture and decorative items in my post: What is the Art Deco Style of Antiques?   We recently had a container shipped from France with some beautiful antique Art Deco buffets. They are such fine examples of Art Deco, I'm using those pieces to show you more details of the style.

As a reminder, the Art Deco style was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, reflecting the modern thinking of the Jazz Age and a new taste for sleek and streamlined furniture and architecture.

Prominent and well-defined curves and lines are key elements of the style. This curvy 1920 Art Deco buffet (right, item 18-33) is a fabulous example. 

The hotels of Miami's South Beach and Manhattan's iconic Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are great examples of Art Deco architecture. Applied decoration is also important to the Art Deco look. This includes stylized floral designs, sunbursts, and geometrics.

Sleek Buffet Design

This 1920 buffet (item 18-25) from our recent shipment creates a striking architectural silhouette with the curved posts supporting the upper hutch. Elegant floral carvings across the doors add a decorative accent, as do the dramatic metal handles. It is simply impossible to ignore the attention-grabbing allure of an authentic Art Deco buffet. Although the style is streamlined, it is not shy!

Part of the sleek appeal of Art Deco furniture lies in the use of glossy and shiny materials, including glass, mirror, lacquered finishes and metals. That reflective edge creates much of the glamor we associate with Art Deco. It always looks ready for a party! This walnut buffet dating to 1920 (item 18-38) has plenty of gloss in the mirror-backed upper hutch with a glass door. The mirror panel in the center of the buffet behind the posts reflects light too, above the impressive red/black/grey marble counter. Shine up your chrome cocktail shaker and dress up in your finest Roaring Twenties outfit!

Marble and more!

Marble had been used in architecture since ancient times, of course, but when Art Deco furniture makers started using it, it added that opulence we expect of Art Deco. It is luxurious, but in a very modern way. This French Art Deco buffet (item 18-35) boasts three slabs of black marble as counters in addition to the mirrored back and glass-front cabinet. By now, you'll recognize that the bold linear design on the cabinet front, topped by carved exotic foliage, is typical of the Art Deco style.

Here's a close-up of the black marble, so you can see how attractive the pattern is against the curving carved posts.

To see more of the exceptional design details from this era, take a look at all our antique Art Deco Buffets. It's is appropriate that they are French buffets because Art Deco was named after the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs held in Paris in 1925. This event showcased many of the exciting new designs.

You might also enjoy my post about our customer Betty in Florida who bought an Art Deco buffet for her unusual vintage home!