Vintage Space Age furniture captured post–World War II optimism with swooping shapes, bowed lines and experimentation with new materials including plastic and fiberglass.

From the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 to the landing of Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon in 1969, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States propelled advancements in technology that transformed culture. Space Age design encompassed fashion, architecture, cars, furniture and objects for the home, bringing wonder and hope for the future into everyday life.

Coinciding with Pop art, Space Age style featured bold colors and forms. Eero Aarnio’s Ball chair, which debuted in 1966, used molded fiberglass for a capsule-like space while Verner Panton’s 1959 Panton chair was a single piece of molded plastic for a gravity-defying S shape. Red versions of Olivier Mourgue’s 1964 Djinn chair were futuristic enough to appear on the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Today, Joe Colombo is revered as a master of modern Italian design thanks to the provocative modular furniture pieces he created, such as the Tube chair and the Elda armchair, both of which embody the future-forward spirit of the Space Age.

The Space Age spirit extended to home building too. The futuristic Case Study Houses, which were designed by the likes of Pierre Koenig, Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra and Whitney R. Smith, are considered a high point of modernism and the Southern California lifestyle.

Sometimes the nods to space exploration were more literal, like moon and star motifs or the 1965 Eclisse lamp by Vico Magistretti that saw the mid-century Italian designer integrating a movable inner shade to “eclipse” the light source. Alongside the pioneering moon missions, JVC manufactured the Videosphere portable television reminiscent of the Apollo 11 space helmets.

Although the style faded in the 1970s — with the 1975 joining of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts signaling a new era of cooperation and the global oil crisis impacting the availability of plastics — the era’s innovations influenced designers into the 21st century such as Zaha Hadid and Djivan Schapira.

Find a collection of vintage Space Age seating, tables, lighting and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Finding the Right Music-stands for You

Musicians are well acquainted with the practical uses for a vintage, new or antique music stand, which typically consists of a flat, inclined surface that is elevated upon a freestanding column or tripod for the purposes of reading sheet music. Music stands are often lightweight and mobile and may also be adjustable in height as well as with respect to the angle at which the platform is tilted.

Prior to purchasing a music stand, consider the function you intend it to serve. While musicians will primarily use it in the room where their musical instruments are kept in order to read music while honing their craft, will you use it for another purpose?

An antique music stand can be used in a home office to keep a heavy reference book, such as a dictionary, open alongside your desk as you work. Alternatively, in a living room, an old music stand can be an elegant surface against which you can lean a work of art such as a painting or a photograph for prominent display. For decorative purposes or for a musician whose rehearsal space isn’t tied to a specific room, music stands made from a lightweight material are better for portability. But if you’re interested in a stand produced in a heavier material, it will create a bold statement but will likely need to stay in roughly the same place.

Metal music stands are common because they’re fairly lightweight. They are intended to be practical and easily transported to different venues. Some wood music stands are also lightweight. Depending upon the time period, furniture designer and manufacturer, an antique wood music stand might be supported by an alluring triangular plinth base and can sometimes bear decoratively carved embellishments as well as brass arms with candleholders.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage, new and antique music stands as well as other kinds of stands and storage cabinets that can support your efforts to keep your media and creative pursuits neat and orderly in your home.