The Best Furniture of the Past 2022: We’re Bringing These Back

In 1923, the height of the Art Deco era, Robert Frost wrote Nothing Gold Can Stay, which essentially implies that all extraordinary things will come to an end. Though it may seem like a pessimistic take on beauty, the American poet had a point. With each passing decade, we’ve seen some of our favorite pieces of furniture—fainting couches, marble bathtubs, and telephone chairs, to name a few—disappear in favor of more convenient replacements that have adapted to a more modern world.

Consider this our plea to bring such nostalgic pieces back. They may not serve our contemporary way of life as well as their newer counterparts, but they certainly are beautiful. Plus, they recall a simpler time, and what’s better than that?

• 
  
  

• 
  
  

  The Formal Ashtray
  Flavio Poli for Seguso

  Read More

• 
  
  

• 
  
  

• 
  
  

Ahead, we’ve rounded up our favorite furniture pieces of the past to indulge in what philosophers have dubbed “Golden Age syndrome.” As its name implies, Golden Age syndrome is a notion that a different moment in time—typically earlier—is better than the present. The moniker carries a negative connotation as far as wholesale longing for ages past, but we think a little yearning for certain relics is healthy. From ornate 18th-century secretary desks to Murano glass ashtrays, there’s plenty of near-extinct furniture and decor that we’d love to see make a return. If you, too, have a thing for technically useless furniture that’s pretty to look at, you may want to consider snagging some of our favorite finds. A word of warning: Because many of these prized antiques are no longer in production, they don’t come cheap.