Charak Ribbon Back Dining Chairs

Over the course of nearly seven decades, Charak Furniture Company produced exemplary reproductions of 18th-century-era furniture, including works created in the American colonial and Georgian styles, as well as sophisticated mid-century modern pieces made by the likes of German furniture designer and painter Tommi Parzinger.

Charak was established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1919. It earned a reputation for exceptional design and durability, and the 1920s were a period of high production for the brand. Charak was a leading manufacturer of reproductions of early American furniture that was influenced by Queen Anne– and Georgian–era design, including secretaries, dressers and cabinets with exquisite details like accented moldings, carved finials, recessed door panels, claw feet and other embellishments.

While the Great Depression put many furniture manufacturers out of business, Charak Furniture Company weathered the era’s difficulties. In fact, during the 1930s, it introduced one of its most enduringly popular dining tables: the drop leaf Danbury table. The solid mahogany table, which features four leaves to comfortably accommodate larger dining parties as necessary, is supported by four slender and elegantly curving legs, a wonderful example of the company's furniture from this era.

In the 1950s, Charak Furniture Company continued to thrive by shifting production to suit modern tastes. It worked with designers like Donald Deskey and Tommi Parzinger to develop collections that boast the clean lines and sleek silhouettes that characterized many of the period’s designs. The collaborations proved fruitful and prolific. The company’s rare revival and mid-century modern pieces have considerable appeal for today’s collectors.

In its heyday, Charak Furniture Company had showrooms in Chicago and New York City. Today, a 1958 desk designed by Deskey is part of the permanent collection at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

On 1stDibs, find an array of vintage Charak Furniture Company tables, storage cabinets, seating and more.

No matter what your dream dining experience looks like, there is a wide-ranging variety of vintage, new and antique dining room chairs on 1stDibs. Find upholstered dining room chairs, wood dining room chairs and more to outfit any space designated for a good meal, be it in your home or in the great outdoors.

In the early 18th century, most dining room tables and other furniture was designed to look masculine. In America, dining rooms weren’t even much of a concept until the late 1700s, when a space set aside specifically for dining became a part of the construction of homes for the wealthy. Dining room chairs of the era were likely made of walnut or oak. In Europe, neoclassical dining chairs emerged during the 1750s owing to nostalgia for classical antiquity, while the curving chair crests of Queen Anne furniture in the United States preceded the artistically bold seat backs that characterized the Chippendale chairs that followed. If there weren't enough dining chairs at suppertime in the American colonies, men were prioritized and women stood.

In the dining rooms of today, however, there is enough space for everyone to have a seat at the table. Modern styles introduce innovative design choices that play with shape and style. Icons of mid-century modern dining room chairs are plentiful: With its distinctive bentwood back, there is the DCW dining chair by Charles and Ray Eames, while Hans Wegner's timeless classic, the Wishbone chair, remains relevant and elegant decades after its debut. Stefano Giovannoni's White Rabbit dining chairs, in their lovable polyethylene biomorphism, reinvent what dining can look like.

Today's wide range of dining room chairs also means that they can now be styled in different ways, bringing functionality and fun to any sumptuous dining space. No longer do tables have to be accompanied by a matching set of seats. Skillfully mixing and matching colors and designs allows you to showcase your personality without sacrificing the cohesion of a given space.

By furnishing your dining room with cozy chairs — vintage, antique or otherwise — family time can extend far beyond mealtime. The plush upholstery of Victorian-style dining room chairs is perfect for game nights that stretch from dinner to midnight snack. Outdoor tables and dining chairs can also present an excellent opportunity for bonding and eating — what goes better with a delicious meal than fresh air, anyway?

Whether you prefer your chairs streamlined and stackable or ornate and one of a kind, the offerings on 1stDibs will elevate your mealtime and beyond.