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 Chairs

Drexel Furniture 1970

Drexel Mahogany

Drexel 1980s

Drexel Leather

Drexel French Provincial

Drexel Cane

Materials

Cotton, Wood

Drexel Heritage French Provincial Lounge Chairs Louis XV Silk

$1,017Sale Price|25% Off

Drexel Heritage French Provincial Lounge Chairs Louis XV Silk

Located in Lake Worth, FL

Offering One Of Our Recent Palm Beach Estate Fine Furniture Acquisitions Of A Pair of Vintage French Louis XV Style Lounge Chairs by Drexel Heritage Zippered cushions are silk.

Category

Vintage 1980s Louis XV Bergere Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Silk, Mahogany

Chinoiserie Style Desk & Chair by Drexel Heritage, USA 1960's

$6,850 / set

Chinoiserie Style Desk & Chair by Drexel Heritage, USA 1960's

By Drexel

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Introducing the exquisite Chinoiserie Style Desk & Chair by Drexel Heritage and part of The Et-Cetera collection, a timeless masterpiece from the 1960's.

Category

Vintage 1960s American Chinoiserie Desks

Materials

Brass

$1,210

Set of 6 MCM Cane Back Dining Chairs by Drexel

Located in Medina, OH

Set of (6) timeless cane back dining chairs for Drexel Heritage Furniture. These chairs feature a walnut frame and red and gold patterned chenille fabric.

Category

Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Fabric, Walnut

Tall Back French Provincial Cabriole Legs White Wash Finish Legs Wing ArmChair

$1,800

Tall Back French Provincial Cabriole Legs White Wash Finish Legs Wing ArmChair

By Baker Furniture Company, Drexel, Heritage-Henredon

Located in Rockaway, NJ

Tall Back French Provincial Cabriole Legs White Wash Finish Legs Wing Arm Chair MINT!

Category

20th Century American Country Club Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Oak

Pierre Deux Style French Country Provincial Bergere Lounge Chairs & Ottomans

$3,371Sale Price / set|25% Off

Pierre Deux Style French Country Provincial Bergere Lounge Chairs & Ottomans

By Pierre Deux

Located in Lake Worth, FL

Notable makers who produced this exact style include the Pierre Deux x Henredon collaboration as well as historical collections by brands like Ethan Allen and Drexel Heritage. Appro...

Category

Vintage 1970s French Louis XV Bergere Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Wood

Recent Sales

Pair of Drexel Heritage Chairs

Unavailable

H 40 in W 20 in D 24 in

Pair of Drexel Heritage Chairs

By Drexel

Located in Bronx, NY

Pair of Drexel Heritage regency chairs.

Materials

Fabric, Cane, Walnut

Marbleized Cream Painted French Louis XV Bergere Armchair

Unavailable

H 38.25 in W 27 in D 27 in

Marbleized Cream Painted French Louis XV Bergere Armchair

Located in Charlotte, NC

A French Louis XV style upholstered armchair, unbranded, similar quality to Drexel Heritage or Hickory Chair. Hardwood frame painted a marbleized cream color, burgundy color fabric u...

Category

Late 20th Century American Louis XV Bergere Chairs

Materials

Fabric, Hardwood, Paint

Schilt Armless Chairs by Drexel Heritage

Sold

H 33 in W 28.5 in D 31 in

Schilt Armless Chairs by Drexel Heritage

By Drexel

Located in Dallas, TX

a pair of Schilt armless chairs on metal bases. Upholstered in grey trimmed in lime

Set of 4 Antique English Regency Dining Chairs in Mahogany w/ Upholstered Seat

Located in INTERLAKEN, NY

A fine set of four English Regency dining chairs in mahogany with carved bugles resting on back chair rail below the top slat which is line inlaid, with turned front legs and saber r...

Category

Antique 1820s English Regency Dining Room Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Mahogany

People Also Browsed

$26,194

H 106.3 in W 236.23 in D 157.49 in

French Style Wrought Iron Greenhouse with Door and Windows in White Color

Located in Marbella, ES

French style wrought iron greenhouse with doors and windows that open outwards in white color. Ready for glass panels to be installed.

Category

2010s French Garden Ornaments

Materials

Iron

$649

H 0.79 in Dm 19.69 in

Mid Century, Modern Gold Italian Sunburst Mirror, 1960s

Located in 05-080 Hornowek, PL

Vintage mirror in a golden decorative sun-shaped frame from Italy. The frame is made of plastic. Good original condition, the mirror has minimal flaws. All is shown on pictures. Beau...

Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors

Materials

Mirror, Giltwood

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Drexel Heritage Chairs For Sale on 1stDibs

At 1stDibs, there are several options of drexel heritage chairs available for sale. The range of distinct drexel heritage chairs — often made from wood, fabric and velvet — can elevate any home. There are all kinds of drexel heritage chairs available, from those produced as long ago as the 20th Century to those made as recently as the 21st Century. Drexel heritage chairs are generally popular furniture pieces, but Hollywood Regency, Mid-Century Modern and Georgian styles are often sought at 1stDibs. Many drexel heritage chairs are appealing in their simplicity, but Drexel produced popular drexel heritage chairs that are worth a look.

How Much are Drexel Heritage Chairs?

Drexel heritage chairs can differ in price owing to various characteristics — the average selling price at 1stDibs is $2,198, while the lowest priced sells for $495 and the highest can go for as much as $6,000.

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 Seating for You

With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.

Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.

Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.

The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.

Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.

With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.

Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.

No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.

Questions About Drexel

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.