Barbara Barry For Baker Slipper Chair

Owing to the company’s collaborations with many leading designers and artists over time, vintage Baker furniture is consistently sought after today. The heritage brand’s chairs, dining tables, desks and other pieces are widely known to collectors and design enthusiasts for their fine craftsmanship and durability.

Within a few decades of its launch, Baker Furniture Company evolved into one of the largest and most important furniture manufacturers in the United States and became known for its high-quality production standards. Siebe Baker and business partner Henry Cook founded the original iteration of Baker Furniture Company in 1890 in Allegan, Michigan, after immigrating to the United States from the Netherlands. Allegan is a small town west of Grand Rapids, which, at that time was home to Widdicomb Furniture Co. and more and was known as America’s furniture capital. The company manufactured doors and interior moldings and introduced a combination desk and bookcase in 1893. In the early 1900s, Siebe became the sole owner of the business.

Among others, stage designer Joseph Urban and modernist designer Kem Weber contributed designs to Baker in the 1920s. In 1932, under the leadership of Siebe’s son, Hollis, who started at the company as a salesman but took the reins when his father passed in 1925, Baker Furniture introduced bedroom pieces and debuted its Manor House collection, which made reproductions of European furnishings available to the American market. (Hollis was an avid traveler and procured antiques overseas for the company to reproduce in the United States.) Soon, Baker Furniture Company moved to Holland, Michigan, and eventually opened showrooms in Grand Rapids and elsewhere.

Pioneering Scandinavian designer Finn Juhl created a Danish modern line for Baker in 1951, and the company produced his award-winning Chieftain chair for a short time. In the late 1950s, Baker introduced the Milling Road label to reach a younger audience with stylish but less costly furnishings like console tables, walnut dining chairs and more, and in 1961, British furniture designer T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings introduced a modern neoclassical line at Baker.

The 1960s and ’70s saw the introduction of historic reproduction furniture lines such as Woburn Abbey and the Historic Charleston collection, which remain very popular to this day. In 1990, Baker was licensed to produce a furniture line from Colonial Williamsburg. That same year, the Smithsonian Museum introduced Baker’s Chippendale chair into its permanent collection and the Grand Rapids Art Museum dedicated an exhibition to Baker’s 100th anniversary, a showcase that included 150 pieces of furniture Siebe Baker had collected as part of a larger assortment that had served as inspiration for his designs.

Today, vintage Baker furniture, such as its elegant mahogany nightstands and teak credenzas — particularly those crafted by Finn Juhl — sees high demand online and elsewhere. The company continues to produce contemporary collections with well-known designers such as Bill Sofield, Barbara Barry and Kara Mann and remains on par with some of the highest quality furniture in the industry.

Browse vintage Baker armchairs, sofas, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Antique and vintage slipper chairs are popular fixtures in modern interiors due to their armless, compact designs with high backs and short legs making them perfect for even the tightest of spaces.

Slipper chairs originated in the 18th century. They were used in private dressing rooms and bedrooms for upper-class women to easily slide into their shoes, often assisted by a maid, when corsets and heavy petticoats made dressing a cumbersome task. Since this emergence in the boudoir, slipper chairs have become an essential piece of furniture in modern homes.

In the 1950s, American interior designer Billy Baldwin — whose clients included Jackie Onassis and Bunny Mellon — placed slipper chairs in the living room for the first time. He saw them as the ideal chairs for entertaining. Their low seats and tall, curved backs invite guests to sit; the lack of arms, however, places a limit on comfort.

Slipper chairs can be found in various styles, from the classic mid-centuy modern with unadorned legs to 1930s French Art Deco with a shorter back. Edward Wormley designed some of the most iconic mid-century modern slipper chairs with tapered legs, a round wood base, button tufting and a tall back.

Today, slipper chairs are among the chairs you should know. They can be used to frame a coffee table or contribute to a sense of balance in a space. A slipper chair can fit next to a bookshelf or be tucked into a corner along with a small side table to create a charming reading nook. In entryways, a slipper chair can be used while you put on your shoes. It is also an elegant addition to the bedroom or home office, where its soft shape adds a casual contrast to more rigid furniture.

You can find slipper chairs in materials such as fabric, wood and upholstery on 1stDibs. Browse a wide selection of styles, including mid-century modern, Hollywood Regency and Art Deco.