Marie Therese Chair

Schumacher is an esteemed American textile company known for its fine pillows, wallpaper and carpets. The family-owned business is still managed by its founder’s descendants. While committed to its history and traditions, the brand has evolved to maintain its vaulted status for more than 130 years.

Schumacher was established in 1889 in New York by Frederic Schumacher, who was born in France and moved to America that same year. By 1898, the Gilded Age elite were patrons of the company’s exquisite imported European fabrics. Schumacher became one of the first to produce luxury textiles in America and its fabrics began appearing in upscale properties like the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Schumacher grew in prestige in the early 20th century due to its partnerships with top designers such as Josef Frank and Dorothy Draper. Its textiles graced the White House and captured the attention of leading decorators, including Edith Wharton and Elsie de Wolfe.

In the 1920s, Schumacher was a favorite at Mar-a-Lago estates and Newport’s ritzy summer cottages. In the 1930s, French fashion designer Paul Poiret helped usher in the company’s Art Deco era. Schumacher textiles could be found on the sets of Hollywood films, most notably the Hydrangea Drape wallpaper in Gone with the Wind.

After World War II, Schumacher began a decades-long partnership with designer Vera Neumann, whose scarves were worn by the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. In 1955, legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright developed a textile line with Schumacher. Known as the Taliesin line, it was the first commercial venture of the architect’s career.

In 2011, Andrew and Stephen Puschel became the fifth generation of Schumacher’s descendants to join the family business. The company continues to exemplify a spirit of innovation by partnering with exciting modern designers like Miles Redd, Mary McDonald, David Kaihoi, Veere Grenney and David Oliver. Under the creative direction of Dara Caponigro, Schumacher has also partnered with the biannual luxury interiors magazine Cabana.

On 1stDibs, find Schumacher textiles, wall decorations, rugs and more.

Chairs are an indispensable component of your home and office. Can you imagine your life without the vintage, new or antique chairs you love?

With the exception of rocking chairs, the majority of the seating in our homes today — Windsor chairs, chaise longues, wingback chairs — originated in either England or France. Art Nouveau chairs, the style of which also originated in those regions, embraced the inherent magnificence of the natural world with decorative flourishes and refined designs that blended both curved and geometric contour lines. While craftsmanship and styles have evolved in the past century, chairs have had a singular significance in our lives, no matter what your favorite chair looks like.

“The chair is the piece of furniture that is closest to human beings,” said Hans Wegner. The revered Danish cabinetmaker and furniture designer was prolific, having designed nearly 500 chairs over the course of his lifetime. His beloved designs include the Wishbone chair, the wingback Papa Bear chair and many more.

Other designers of Scandinavian modernist chairs introduced new dynamics to this staple with sculptural flowing lines, curvaceous shapes and efficient functionality. The Paimio armchair, Swan chair and Panton chair are vintage works of Finnish and Danish seating that left an indelible mark on the history of good furniture design.

“What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts,” said Ray Eames. 

Visionary polymaths Ray and Charles Eames experimented with bent plywood and fiberglass with the goal of producing affordable furniture for a mass market. Like other celebrated mid-century modern furniture designers of elegant low-profile furnishings — among them Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Finn Juhl — the Eameses considered ergonomic support, durability and cost, all of which should be top of mind when shopping for the perfect chair. The mid-century years yielded many popular chairs.

The Eameses introduced numerous icons for manufacturer Herman Miller, such as the Eames lounge chair and ottoman, molded plywood dining chairs the DCM and DCW (which can be artfully mismatched around your dining table) and a wealth of other treasured pieces for the home and office. 

A good chair anchors us to a place and can become an object of timeless appeal. Take a seat and browse the rich variety of vintage, new and antique chairs on 1stDibs today.