Brushed Steel Sheraton Series Desk

Best known for industrial and Art Deco style metal furniture, Simmons Company Furniture was among the leading manufacturers and sellers of steel furniture from the early to mid-20th century.

In 1923, the Chicago-based furniture firm captured international attention when it introduced the world’s first bedroom suite made of steel. This innovative approach to design made waves throughout the furniture manufacturing industry, which, at the time, produced primarily wooden furniture. 

Towards the late 1920s, Simmons Company Furniture began collaborating with American modernist industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. Bel Geddes was renowned for his sleek, streamlined, futuristic style, seen in Electrolux appliances, radios for Philco and RCA and the aerodynamic Chrysler Airflow. Bel Geddes was also the designer behind the famed General Motors “Futurama” exhibition at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

For Simmons, Bel Geddes designed a steel bedroom furniture ensemble in 1929, including an enameled steel vanity, bed frame and dresser, each with chrome-finished accents. In 1933, Simmons exhibited the suite at the Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago, garnering critical acclaim. Over the next few years, Bel Geddes designed several other pieces for Simmons, such as an Art Deco-style one-drawer side table, leather-upholstered metal armchairs, vanity benches and chests of drawers.

In addition to these modernist designs, Simmons created American Classical furniture and steel reproductions of Windsor, Chippendale and Sheraton pieces aimed at the upper-middle-class market. To soften the industrial look, many pieces, such as rocking chairs, armchairs, desks and dressers, were enameled in color finishes or imitation wood.

Simmons Company Furniture pieces have had a resurgence in popularity, particularly among interior designers and collectors of early 20th-century furniture. The company’s furnishings are in museum collections across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum in New York.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of Simmons Company Furniture seating, case pieces and storage cabinets, tables and more.

Choosing the perfect writing desk or writing table is a profoundly personal journey, one that people have been embarking upon for centuries.

Queen Atossa of Persia, from her writing table circa 500 B.C., is said to have been the originator of the art of handwritten letters. Hers was reportedly the first in a long and colorful history of penned correspondence that grew in popularity alongside literacy. The demand for suitable writing desks, which would serve the composer of the letters as well as ensure the comfort of the recipient naturally followed, and the design of these necessary furnishings has evolved throughout history.

Once people began to seek freedom from the outwardly ornate styles of the walnut and rosewood writing desks and drafting tables introduced in the name of Queen Victoria and King Louis XV, radical shifts occurred, such as those that materialized during the Art Nouveau period, when designers longed to produce furniture inspired by the natural world’s beauty. A prime example is the work of the famous late-19th-century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí — his rolltop desk featured deep side drawers and was adorned with carved motifs that paid tribute to nature. Gaudí regularly combined structural precision with decorative elements, creating beautiful pieces of furniture in wood and metal.

Soon afterward, preferences for sleek, geometric, stylized forms in furniture that saw an emphasis on natural wood grains and traditional craftsmanship took hold. Today, Art Deco desks are still favored by designers who seek to infuse interiors with an air of luxury. One of the most prominent figures of the Art Deco movement was French decorator and furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. With his use of neoclassical motifs as well as expensive and exotic materials such as imported dark woods and inlays of precious metals for his writing desks, Ruhlmann came to symbolize good taste and modernity.

The rise in appreciation for Scandinavian modernism continues to influence the design of contemporary writing desks. It employs the “no fuss” or “less is more” approach to creating a tasteful, sophisticated space. Sweden’s master cabinetmaker Bruno Mathsson created gallery-worthy designs that are as functional as they are beautiful. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto never viewed himself as an artist, but, like Mathsson, his furniture designs reflected a fondness for organic materials and a humanistic approach. Danish designers such as Hans Wegner introduced elegant shapes and lines to mid-century desks and writing tables, often working in oak and solid teak.

From vintage desks to contemporary styles, 1stDibs offers a broad spectrum of choices for conducting all personal and business writing and reading activities.