Henry Link Margaux

Although Henry Link is best known for his high-quality wicker dressers, desks, chairs and other seating, the designer and entrepreneur was also a key figure in revolutionizing America’s furniture industry and moving it toward mass production during the early 20th century.

Born in 1889, Link studied at Yadkin College and began his career as a banker in Lexington, North Carolina and New York before taking leadership of the Dixie Furniture Company in 1936. Established in 1901, the small company initially became known for its production of oak and walnut bedroom furniture. However, with Link at the helm, the company grew following a merger with the Elk Furniture Company. 

In 1940, Link visited Henry Ford’s automobile plant in Detroit, Michigan where he became inspired by the factory’s assembly process. Upon his return to Lexington, Link installed automatic conveyors and mass-production techniques at Dixie.

To facilitate Dixie Furniture Company’s exponential growth, four separate divisions were created in the 1950s and 1960s, including Henry Link Furniture. Although the Link collection was initially known for its line of girls’ bedroom furniture, it expanded with a range of styles — from striking reproductions of French Provincial furniture to Polynesian-inspired designs. By the 1970s, Link’s division was among the first in America to popularize casual wicker furnishings such as bohemian-chic dressers, side tables, end tables and center tables. Among Link’s other popular designs were chinoiserie “Mandarin” cabinets, Chinese Chippendale accent chairs and bamboo dining room chairs.

In 1987, the Dixie Furniture Company and its divisions — including Henry Link Furniture — were bought by the Masco Corporation and renamed Lexington Furniture Industries. Meanwhile, Link was posthumously inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame in 1998.

Today, Link’s pieces are highly coveted by interior designers and avid collectors of mid-century modern wicker and rattan furniture.

Find vintage Henry Link case pieces and storage cabinets, tables and seating on 1stDibs.

The style of 18th-century French furniture was guided by the court. When Louis XV, who reigned from 1715–74, focused royal life on the smaller salons of Versailles rather than its grand chambers, it transformed the aesthetics away from the imposing and angular furniture that characterized the style of Louis XIV. A broader focus on comfort and more delicate forms define antique Louis XV furniture, with nature-inspired carvings, wood inlays, curved cabriole legs, asymmetrical shapes and rounded oval seat backs. The furnishings changed throughout the king’s life, as he ascended to the throne as a child and then grew to establish his own tastes.

Pieces like the bergère, an upholstered armchair with a wide cushion that fit the flowing dresses in fashion at the time, reflected this more informal court. Introduced at the start of Louis XV’s reign, bergère chairs in this style were deeper and broader than other chairs of the period.

Louis XV tapestries and carpets tended to be floral and colorful, and design elements were borrowed from Asia. Dutch-born cabinetmaker Bernard van Risenburgh brought lacquer techniques influenced by Japan and China into his luxuriously made furniture. Along with its fine details, the furniture of the era also featured new innovations including mechanical devices. Jean François Oeben, a royal cabinetmaker, created such intricate pieces as a mechanical table for Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress. It involved a sliding top and a writing surface that extended from its marquetry panels.

During the later years of Louis XV’s reign, there was a shift from the ostentatious rocaille style, part of the exuberantly decorative Rococo movement in Europe for which designers such as Nicolas Pineau and Juste-Aurèle Meissonier are known. The style under Louis XVI would return to boxier forms, but with a neoclassical touch inspired by the ancient world.

Find antique Louis XV bedroom furniture, seating, tables and decorative objects on 1stDibs.