Is Drexel Heritage considered high end furniture?

Yes, Drexel Heritage is indeed high-end furniture. High-end furniture is made using the highest quality materials with the best in craftsmanship and Drexel Heritage furniture is no exception. Shop a collection of Drexel Heritage furniture from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.

Is Drexel Furniture good quality?

Yes, Drexel Furniture is good quality, and owing to the commendable level of craftsmanship that characterizes the company's work, Drexel's furnishings typically retain or increase in value over time. Vintage Drexel dining tables , dressers and other pieces remain highly desirable for enthusiasts of mid-century modern design.The North Carolina manufacturer initially became known for pieces inspired by historic European furniture. In the postwar era, Drexel adapted to changing tastes and 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. The Profile and Projection collections of the period, designed with sculptural shapes by John Van Koert , also see demand on today’s secondary market. Find vintage Drexel Furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Drexel Heritage Cabinet

French Heritage Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

$1,650

Insignia Drexel Heritage Italian Provincial Burl 2 Door Bombe Cabinet Commode

Located in Philadelphia, PA

Insignia Drexel Heritage Italian Provincial Burl Wood 2 Door Bombe Cabinet Commode.

Category

Late 20th Century Unknown French Provincial Cabinets

Materials

Wood

Georgian Flame Mahogany Breakfront Bookcase Butlers Drop Desk Individual Glass

By Drexel, Heritage-Henredon, Kittinger Furniture Company, Baker Furniture Company

Located in Rockaway, NJ

Georgian Flame Mahogany Breakfront Bookcase Butlers Drop Desk Individual Glass MINT!

Category

20th Century American Georgian Cupboards

Materials

Massive Custom Provincial French Style Painted Cabinet

$4,650

H 45.5 in W 100 in D 24.5 in

Massive Custom Provincial French Style Painted Cabinet

Located in Bridgeport, CT

Beautifully crafted four door/ four drawer Cabinet with a remarkable overall layered paint treatment in Cream and Pale Blue. There are four key handle drawers on top surmounting two ...

Category

20th Century French Provincial Cabinets

Materials

Wood

Limbert Style Antique Mission Oak Arts and Crafts Triple Bookcase Cabinet

$3,795

$5,600

$2,295

H 30.5 in W 30 in D 16.25 in

Baker Furniture Campaign Style Three Drawer Chest

By Baker Furniture Company

Located in Bridgeport, CT

Baker Furniture campaign style three drawer chest with brass trim around the top and vertically flanking the drawers. The three drawers are framed with reeded wood trim and accentuat...

Category

20th Century American Campaign Commodes and Chests of Drawers

Materials

Brass

19th Century Chinoiserie Lacquered Curio Cabinet

$12,499

H 78 in W 35 in D 18 in

19th Century Chinoiserie Lacquered Curio Cabinet

Located in Solebury, PA

A magnificent 19th-century burgundy and black lacquer curio cabinet is lavishly adorned with gilded accents and refined detailing throughout. The molded cornice is richly embellish...

Category

Antique 1880s English Chinoiserie Cabinets

Materials

Lacquer

Antique Georgian Style Chinoiserie Breakfront Bookcase

$4,056

H 79.93 in W 57.88 in D 13.78 in

Antique Georgian Style Chinoiserie Breakfront Bookcase

By Drexel

Located in London, GB

A stunning and very decorative antique Georgian style chinoiserie breakfront bookcase / china cabinet. This was made in the USA by Drexel, it dates from around the 1960’s. It is of ...

Category

Vintage 1960s American Chinoiserie Bookcases

Materials

Glass, Wood

19th Century Antique French Provincial Two-Door Oak Cabinet from Pierre Deux

$1,050Sale Price|83% Off

H 41 in W 50 in D 20 in

19th Century Antique French Provincial Two-Door Oak Cabinet from Pierre Deux

By Pierre Deux

Located in Chicago, IL

19th C. French Provincial antique two-door oak cabinet with two drawers. Original hardware, one interior shelf behind doors. Beautiful carvings and silhouette. Top of cabinet is slig...

Category

Antique 19th Century French French Provincial Cabinets

Materials

Materials

Terracotta

1960s Stilnovo Hexagonal Flush Mount Ceiling Light Model 1183

$5,500

H 4.25 in W 14 in D 12 in

1960s Stilnovo Hexagonal Flush Mount Ceiling Light Model 1183

By Stilnovo

Located in New York, NY

1960s Stilnovo hexagonal flush mount ceiling light with white enameled metal structure, textured glass diffuser, and brass mounts. Stamped 'STILNOVO' on inside of metal structure.

Category

Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount

Materials

Metal, Brass

$4,500

$3,750

H 35.5 in W 62.75 in D 25.5 in

Superb Paint Decorated Karges Attributed French Faux Painted Marble Dresser

By Karges Furniture

Located in Swedesboro, NJ

This superb paint-decorated French style dresser, attributed to the esteemed maker Karges, is a refined example of craftsmanship and timeless elegance. The dresser features a faux-pa...

Category

Vintage 1960s American Louis XV Dressers

Materials

Brass

Romweber Hollywood Regency Chinoiserie Lacquered Grasscloth Dresser or Credenza

$3,595

H 28 in W 80 in D 20.75 in

Romweber Hollywood Regency Chinoiserie Lacquered Grasscloth Dresser or Credenza

By Romweber Furniture Co.

Located in South Bend, IN

An exceptional Modern Hollywood Regency Chinoiserie long dresser or credenza By Romweber USA, Circa 1980s Beautiful lacquered grasscloth, with original Asian-inspired brass hardwa...

Category

Vintage 1980s American Modern Dressers

Materials

Brass

Pair of Mastercraft Brass Display Cabinets

$15,550 / set

H 84 in W 32 in D 16 in

Pair of Mastercraft Brass Display Cabinets

By Mastercraft

Located in Dallas, TX

Offered is a pair of Mastercraft vitrines with highly polished lacquered brass along with two main compartments: two adjustable glass shelves in the top section and one in the lower ...

Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets

Materials

Brass

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Drexel Heritage Cabinet For Sale on 1stDibs

At 1stDibs, there are many versions of the ideal drexel heritage cabinet for your home. Frequently made of wood, brass and metal, every drexel heritage cabinet was constructed with great care. You’ve searched high and low for the perfect drexel heritage cabinet — we have versions that date back to the 20th Century alongside those produced as recently as the 21st Century are available. A drexel heritage cabinet, designed in the Mid-Century Modern, Georgian or Hollywood Regency style, is generally a popular piece of furniture. A well-made drexel heritage cabinet has long been a part of the offerings for many furniture designers and manufacturers, but those produced by Drexel and Heritage Furniture are consistently popular.

How Much is a Drexel Heritage Cabinet?

Prices for a drexel heritage cabinet start at $750 and top out at $6,000 with the average selling for $2,200.

Drexel for sale on 1stDibs

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 oak wood, 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, 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.

Finding the Right Case Pieces And Storage Cabinets for You

Of all the vintage storage cabinets and antique case pieces that have become popular in modern interiors over the years, dressers, credenzas and cabinets have long been home staples, perfect for routine storage or protection of personal items.

In the mid-19th century, cabinetmakers would mimic styles originating in the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI eras for their dressers, bookshelves and other structures, and, later, simpler, streamlined wood designs allowed these “case pieces” or “case goods” — any furnishing that is unupholstered and has some semblance of a storage component — to blend into the background of any interior.

Mid-century modern furniture enthusiasts will cite the tall modular wall units crafted in teak and other sought-after woods of the era by the likes of George Nelson, Poul Cadovius and Finn Juhl. For these highly customizable furnishings, designers of the day delivered an alternative to big, heavy bookcases by considering the use of space — and, in particular, walls — in new and innovative ways. Mid-century modern credenzas, which, long and low, evolved from tables that were built as early as the 14th century in Italy, typically have no legs or very short legs and have grown in popularity as an alluring storage option over time.

Although the name immediately invokes images of clothing, dressers were initially created in Europe for a much different purpose. This furnishing was initially a flat-surfaced, low-profile side table equipped with a few drawers — a common fixture used to dress and prepare meats in English kitchens throughout the Tudor period. The drawers served as perfect utensil storage. It wasn’t until the design made its way to North America that it became enlarged and equipped with enough space to hold clothing and cosmetics. The very history of case pieces is a testament to their versatility and well-earned place in any room.

In the spirit of positioning your case goods center stage, decluttering can now be design-minded.

A contemporary case piece with open shelving and painted wood details can prove functional as a storage unit as easily as it can a room divider. Alternatively, apothecary cabinets are charming case goods similar in size to early dressers or commodes but with uniquely sized shelving and (often numerous) drawers.

Whether you’re seeking a playful sideboard that features colored glass and metal details, an antique Italian hand-carved storage cabinet or a glass-door vitrine to store and show off your collectibles, there are options for you on 1stDibs.

Questions About Drexel

Is Drexel Heritage considered high end furniture?
1 Answer
1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
Yes, Drexel Heritage is indeed high-end furniture. High-end furniture is made using the highest quality materials with the best in craftsmanship and Drexel Heritage furniture is no exception. Shop a collection of Drexel Heritage furniture from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.
Is Drexel Furniture good quality?
1 Answer
1stDibs ExpertSeptember 25, 2024
Yes, Drexel Furniture is good quality, and owing to the commendable level of craftsmanship that characterizes the company's work, Drexel's furnishings typically retain or increase in value over time. Vintage Drexel dining tables, dressers and other pieces remain highly desirable for enthusiasts of mid-century modern design.

The North Carolina manufacturer initially became known for pieces inspired by historic European furniture. In the postwar era, Drexel adapted to changing tastes and 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. The Profile and Projection collections of the period, designed with sculptural shapes by John Van Koert, also see demand on today’s secondary market.

Find vintage Drexel Furniture for sale on 1stDibs.