Drexel Declaration China Hutch Cabinet by Kipp Stewart and Stewart MacDougall
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Drexel Declaration China Hutch Cabinet by Kipp Stewart and Stewart MacDougall
About the Item
- Creator:Drexel (Maker),Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 67 in (170.18 cm)Width: 48.5 in (123.19 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. There is normal patina for its age and use. This piece has been very well cared for. Please see photos.
- Seller Location:Topeka, KS
- Reference Number:Seller: BEY-CSG-0931stDibs: LU1873316423511
Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall
While American furniture designers Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall created a range of mid-century modernist works for Glenn of California and other manufacturers, the duo is best known for Declaration, a collection they designed for Drexel Furniture.
It’s true that design lovers have long revered Drexel’s bedroom furniture of the 1960s, and collectors of mid-century modern pieces are drawn to vintage Drexel dressers, Drexel Heritage sofas and the series that Stewart (1928–2022) and MacDougall (1927–2016) designed for the North Carolina manufacturer. But Drexel’s story actually begins decades before its celebrated Declaration line and other postwar furnishings took shape.
Drexel was founded in 1903 and earned a reputation for works that were inspired by historic European furniture, like the popular French Provincial–style Touraine bedroom and dining group that borrowed its curves from Louis XV-era furniture. Others replicated the ornate details of 18th-century chinoiserie or the embellishments of Queen Anne furniture.
By the time he graduated from Chouinard Art Institute in his adopted home state of California, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-born Kipp Stewart was steeped in the world of modern seating design, experimenting with new chair models that bridged form and function. Charles and Ray Eames were important influences on his early work.
The Eameses — whose lounge chair is among the most iconic works manufactured by legendary Michigan company Herman Miller — were also inspirational for Stewart MacDougall, a Pasadena, California-born designer who, like Kipp, attended Chouinard.
When Drexel embraced the clean lines of mid-century modernism with the Declaration collection, Kipp and Stewart were producing case pieces and more for Glenn of California, an Arcadia-based brand that also manufactured furniture designed by the likes of Greta Magnusson Grossman, Milo Baughman and others.
Drexel’s Declaration line was constructed entirely of natural walnut and featured the choice of white porcelain or brass drawer pulls and cabinet door handles. Although its stylish credenzas, dressers and other pieces reflect the kind of slim-lined, low-slung silhouettes for which mid-century design has become known, there are also elements that nod to earlier American and European furniture design, such as the dining chairs whose flattened spindle backs recall Shaker and Windsor chair design, distinguishing them from the modern designs becoming prolific in Scandinavia at the time.
While Kipp Stewart found success as a painter and with his Ventana Big Sur project, which he designed in 1972 — and had also created chairs, chests and more for Directional — the Drexel Declaration line is his widely recognized furniture collection and remains highly sought after by collectors today. Stewart MacDougall’s interests also spanned other areas of design — he worked on vintage cars, created golf clubs and built sailboats — but furniture obsessives know him best for the distinctive Declaration series.
The Declaration pieces were so indicative of a particularly American style, in fact, that several items from the collection were selected by the U.S. government to represent the country at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958.
Find vintage Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall furniture on 1stDibs.
Drexel
While vintage Drexel Furniture dining tables, dressers and other pieces remain highly desirable for enthusiasts of mid-century modern design, the manufacturer's story actually begins decades before its celebrated postwar-era Declaration line took shape.
In 1903, in the small town of Drexel in the foothills of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, six partners came together to found a company that would become one of the country’s leading furniture producers. The first offerings from Drexel Furniture were simple: a bed, washstand and bureau all crafted from native oakwood, sold as a bedroom suite for $14.50.
One of Drexel’s early innovations was to employ staff designers, something the company initiated in the 1930s. This focus on design, which few other furniture companies were committing to at the time, allowed Drexel to respond to a variety of new and traditional tastes. This included making pieces inspired by historic European furniture, like the popular French Provincial–style Touraine bedroom and dining group that borrowed its curves from Louis XV-era furniture. Others replicated the ornate details of 18th-century chinoiserie or the embellishments of Queen Anne furniture. Always ready to adapt to new customer demands, during World War II, Drexel built a sturdy desk designed especially for General Douglas MacArthur.
In the postwar era, Drexel embraced the clean lines of mid-century modernism with the Declaration collection designed by Stewart MacDougall and Kipp Stewart that featured elegant credenzas and more made in walnut, and the Profile and Projection collections designed with sculptural shapes by John Van Koert. In the 1970s, Drexel introduced high-end furniture in a Mediterranean style.
Drexel changed hands and visions throughout the years. It was managed by one of the original partners — Samuel Huffman — until 1935, at which time his son Robert O. Huffman took over as president. It was then that the company began to expand, with several acquisitions of competitors in the 1950s, including Table Rock Furniture, the Heritage Furniture Co. and more.
With the manufacturer’s success — spurred by its embrace of advertising in home and garden magazines — it opened more factories in both North and South Carolina. By 1957, the company that had started with a factory of 50 workers had 2,300 employees and was selling its furniture nationwide.
Drexel underwent a series of name changes in its long history. Its acquisition of Southern Desk Company in 1960 bolstered its production of institutional furniture for dormitories, classrooms, churches and laboratories.
In the following decades, contracts with government agencies, hotels, schools and hospitals brought its high-quality furniture to a global audience. U.S. Plywood-Champion Papers bought Drexel Enterprises in 1968, and it became Drexel Heritage Furnishings.
In 2014, the last Drexel Heritage plant, in Morganton, North Carolina, reportedly closed its doors. The company rebranded as Drexel in 2017.
The vintage Drexel furniture for sale on 1stDibs includes end tables designed by Edward Wormley, walnut side tables designed by Kipp Stewart and lots more.
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$3,196 Sale Price / set20% Off - MCM Drexel Declaration Full Size Headboard by Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougallBy Drexel, Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougallLocated in Topeka, KSHandsome vintage MCM or Mid-Century Modern Drexel Declaration full size walnut headboard by Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall. Beautiful condition, keeping in mind that this is vintage and not new so will have signs of use and wear. A chip on the back of one leg has been repaired. It has been cleaned and re-Danish oiled. Please see photos and zoom in for details. We attempt to portray any imperfections. Circa, 1960’s. We have a DECLARATION to make!!! A DREXEL declaration, that is!! We have a stunning vintage mid-century modern Drexel Declaration full size walnut headboard designed by Kipp Stewart and Stewart MacDougall to offer to you!!! It is comprised of gorgeous walnut with stunning wood grain and features wonderful, cut out sculpted slats across the front of headboard and a lower stretcher. You’ll just need a Hollywood frame to complete it OR hang it on the wall! Modern box springs & mattresses are taller than they used to be and it’s a fabulous way to show off the headboard! It is going to add just the right splash of mid-century modern magnificence to any bedroom in your home where you will be sure to sleep in stylish splendor. Kipp Stewart, a celebrated American designer, born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania did not lead a charmed childhood. Sent to California to live with distant relatives at a young age, you could call him a self-made man. His furniture designing fate was sealed at 15 when hitchhiking to school he passed a storefront shop and studio on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles with pencil industrial drawings in the windows and fell in love with them. Kipp worked hard, turning down a track and field scholarship at USC and instead enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute in the late 1940s. Again, he worked very hard days and nights becoming a renowned artist, architect, and award-winning designer. He currently resides in Carmel, California and is still painting. Alexander Stewart Orton MacDougall was born in the late 1920s in Pasadena and grew up in a Green and Green house which he credits for his fascination and love of design. Judged early with a learning disability which he obviously overcame, Stewart attended Chouinard Art Institute after a short time in the Navy. He then went to work for Victor Gruen and Associates where he met his mentor Rudolf Baumfeld who had studied under Le Courbusier...Category
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