The 5 Most Duped Mid-Century Furniture Pieces

Curated Mid-Century Modern Home Listings 📍

Jun 30, 2025

If you’ve searched for vintage furniture on Facebook Marketplace even once, you know the pain of sifting through low quality knock-off listings. Cheap imitations flood search results, making it a quest to find authentic pieces. Which begs the question: why are their so many dupes anyways?

Furniture designs can be protected under a few forms of intellectual property (IP) law, including design patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Design patents protect the ornamental design of a functional item for just 15 years from the date of grant in the U.S. Copyrights can protect original works of authorship, including certain aspects of furniture design, for the life of the author plus 70 years. Trademarks, of course, protect brand names and logos used on goods and services.

However, most iconic mid-century modern furniture pieces were created before robust IP protections were even in place, or their protections have long expired. As a result, the most popular designs are frequently replicated with little recourse available. I think the old adage “buy it nice, or buy it twice” applies nicely here. But thats probably a topic for a different day.

Five Most Commonly Replicated Mid-Century Modern Furniture Pieces

Authentic Eames Lounge Chair, produced by Herman Miller.

Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman (1956)
- No big surprise here. Designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, the lounge chair is likely the most iconic and widely replicated mid-century modern piece.
- Authentic versions are produced by Herman Miller and Vitra. Replicas abound with dubious quality, with some available for under $1,000. Manufacturing these things is no joke. Check out the process here.
Togo Sofa (1973)
- Designed by Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset, the Togo sofa is known for its distinctive, low-slung design.
- Originals are still produced by Ligne Roset. Replicas are widely available online (Wayfair special), often at significantly lower prices.
Tulip Chair and Table (1957)
- Designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll, the Tulip series is notable for its single-leg pedestal design. Read more about the Tulip Chair here. Authentic pieces are produced by Knoll to this day.
Noguchi Table (1947)
- Sometimes known as the Bi-morphic table, Isamu Noguchi’s iconic design was duped even before it hit mass market production. Read more about it here.
Cesca Chair (1928)
- Designed by Marcel Breuer, the Cesca chair combines a tubular steel frame with a cane seat and back.
- Authentic versions are produced by Knoll. Replicas and countless variations are ubiquitous.