Heywood-Wakefield Co. On Sale
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mirror, Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
Early 20th Century American Floor Lamps
Wicker
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vanities
Cut Glass, Mirror, Maple
Vintage 1940s American Tables
Steel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Maple
Vintage 1950s End Tables
Maple, Oak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Birch
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Birch
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Maple
Antique Mid-19th Century American Victorian Rocking Chairs
Metal
Antique 1890s American Late Victorian Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Glass, Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Birch
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Windsor Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
Vintage 1950s American Armchairs
Fabric, Maple
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Birch
Antique 1890s American Victorian Rocking Chairs
Wicker
People Also Browsed
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass, Murano Glass
Vintage 1970s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
Vintage 1920s British Art Deco Floor Lamps
Oak
Vintage 1970s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
20th Century French Art Deco Dry Bars
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Maple
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
Vintage 1970s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Maple
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Maple
Late 20th Century Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Antique 19th Century Floor Lamps
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Maple
Antique Late 19th Century French Gothic Revival Shelves and Wall Cabinets
Oak
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Dining Room Tables
Walnut
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
Vintage 1940s American Modern Armchairs
Ash, Leather, Beech, Maple
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
Vintage 1960s American Living Room Sets
Rattan
20th Century American Drop-leaf and Pembroke Tables
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Birch
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Maple
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak, Upholstery
Vintage 1910s American Other Patio and Garden Furniture
Wicker
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mirror, Birch
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mirror, Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Mirror
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Birch
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Platinum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Birch
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Maple
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Sofas
Bentwood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Glass, Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Birch
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Tables
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood, Mirror
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks
Maple
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cupboards
Wood, Glass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Living Room Sets
Upholstery, Ash
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
Upholstery, Ash
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Wood, Birch, Glass
Early 20th Century Art Deco Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Birch
Antique Late 19th Century American Victorian End Tables
Metal
Antique Late 19th Century American Side Tables
Wicker, Oak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Glass, Mirror, Birch
20th Century American Art Deco Settees
Upholstery, Wicker
Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Side Tables
Wicker, Oak
20th Century American Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Oak
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Birch
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Maple
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Maple
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Buffets
Birch
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood, Birch
Heywood-Wakefield Co. On Sale For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Heywood-Wakefield Co. On Sale?
Heywood-Wakefield Co. for sale on 1stDibs
Created by the 19th-century merger of two venerable Massachusetts furniture makers, Heywood-Wakefield was one of the largest and most successful companies of its kind in the United States. In its early decades, the firm thrived by crafting affordable and hugely popular wicker pieces in traditional and historical styles. In the midst of the Great Depression, however, Heywood-Wakefield reinvented itself, creating instead the first modernist furnishings to be widely embraced in American households.
The Heywoods were five brothers from Gardner, Massachusetts, who in 1826 started a business making wooden chairs and tables in their family shed. As their company grew, they moved into the manufacture of furniture with steam-bent wood frames and cane or wicker seats, backs and sides. In 1897, they joined forces with a local rival, the Wakefield Rattan Company, whose founder, Cyrus Wakefield, got his start on the Boston docks buying up lots of discarded rattan, which was used as cushioning material in the holds of cargo ships, and transforming it into furnishings. The conglomerate initially did well with both early American style and woven pieces, but taste began to change at the turn of the 20th century and wicker furniture fell out of fashion. In 1930, the company brought in designer Gilbert Rohde, a champion of the Art Deco style. Before departing in 1932 to lead the Michigan furniture maker Herman Miller, Rohde created well-received sleek, bentwood chairs for Heywood-Wakefield and gave its colonial pieces a touch of Art Deco flair.
Committed to the new style, Heywood-Wakefield commissioned work from an assortment of like-minded designers, including Alfons Bach, W. Joseph Carr, Leo Jiranek and Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, a Russian nobleman who had made his name in Europe creating elegant automotive body designs.
In 1936, the company introduced its “Streamline Modern” group of furnishings, presenting a look that would define the company’s wares for another 30 years. The buoyantly bright, blond wood — maple initially, later birch — came in finishes such as amber “wheat” and pink-tinted “champagne.” The forms of the pieces, at once light and substantial, with softly contoured edges and little adornment beyond artful drawer pulls and knobs, were featured in lines with names such as “Sculptura,” “Crescendo” and “Coronet.” It was forward-looking, optimistic and built to last — a draw for middle-class buyers in the Baby Boom years.
By the 1960s, Heywood-Wakefield began to be seen as “your parents’ furniture.” The last of the Modern line came out in 1966; the company went bankrupt in 1981. The truly sturdy pieces have weathered the intervening years well, having found a new audience for their blithe and happy sophistication.
Find a collection of vintage Heywood-Wakefield desks, chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.