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Heywood Contessa

Heywood Wakefield Contessa Mid Century 4 Drawer Cabinet with Hutch - Pair
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Countryside, IL
Heywood Wakefield Contessa Mid Century 4 drawer cabinet with Hutch - Pair Each cabinet measures
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets

Materials

Metal

Heywood Wakefield Contessa Mid Century 2 Door Cabinet with Hutch, Pair
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Countryside, IL
Heywood Wakefield Contessa mid century 2 door cabinet with Hutch - Pair Each cabinet measures
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets

Materials

Wood

MCM 2-Piece China Hutch Cabinet Buffet by Heywood Wakefield Contessa Collection
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Topeka, KS
Mid-Century Modern 2-piece china hutch, cabinet, or buffet by Heywood Wakefield for the Contessa
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets

Materials

Metal

Rare and Pair of Carl Otto Metronome Lounge Chairs for Heywood Wakefield
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Rare ‘Metronome’ chair designed by Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield’s ‘Contessa’ line, circa 1959
Category

Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Metal

Recent Sales

Nine-Drawer 'Contessa' Dresser by Heywood Wakefield
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Long Beach, CA
An uncommon nine-drawer dresser from the Contessa line produced by Heywood Wakefield in 1959. The
Category

Vintage 1950s Dressers

Heywood Wakefield 'Metronome' Chair in Blue
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Merced, CA
Rare ‘Metronome’ chair designed by Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield’s ‘Contessa’ line, circa 1959
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Iron

Heywood Wakefield "Contessa" Breakfront Buffet
By Otto Wagner, Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Trenton, NJ
Transform your living space with this iconic 1950s "Contessa" Hutch from Heywood Wakefield. This
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Buffets

Materials

Metal

Midcentury Heywood Wakfield Contessa Line by Carl Otto
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Said to be produced for only one year in 1959, the Contessa Line was a strong departure from the
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires

Materials

Metal

Mid-Century "Contessa" Nightstands by Carl Otto for Heywood-Wakefield
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Trenton, NJ
your space with character and charm this pair of Heywood-Wakefield Contessa Mid-Century Nightstands are
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands

Materials

Metal

Heywood-Wakefield Contessa MCM Walnut Formica and Brass Cats Eye Highboy Dresser
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Countryside, IL
Heywood-Wakefield Contessa mid century walnut formica and brass cats eye highboy dresser Dresser
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers

Materials

Brass

Seldom seen Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield 'Contessa' Sofa c 1959
By Carl Otto Czeschka, Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Buffalo, NY
Rare Metronome sofa designed by Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield's Contessa line circa 1959
Category

Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas

Materials

Metal

Exceptional pr Carl Otto Metronome Lounge Chairs "Contessa" line c.1959
By Heywood-Wakefield Co., Carl Otto Linde
Located in Buffalo, NY
Rare ‘Metronome’ chair designed by Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield’s ‘Contessa’ line, circa 1959
Category

Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs

Materials

Steel

Mid-Century Brass Finish King Size Headboard
By Gio Ponti, Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Trenton, NJ
this headboard was originally paired with a Heywood-Wakefield "Contessa" line of bedroom dressers. The
Category

Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames

Materials

Metal

Heywood-Wakefield "Contessa" Armoire Dresser by carl otto
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Trenton, NJ
Elevate Your Space with this hard to find mid-century armoire from Carl Otto for Heywood
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires

Materials

Metal

Mid Century Modern Heywood Wakefield Contessa Nightstands - A Pair
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Raleigh, NC
Outstanding seldomly seen pair of rare mid century modern Heywood Wakefield Contessa line
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands

Materials

Metal

Carl Otto Contessa Tall Dresser Chest for Heywood Wakefield Modern
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Cincinnati, OH
black legs make the piece float and seem light in appearance manufactured by the Heywood Wakefield
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets

Materials

Wood

Lingerie or Gentelman's Tall Chest
By Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Cincinnati, OH
handles sitting on tapered black legs. Retains the manufactures label to the top drawer Heywood-Wakefield
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers

Lingerie or Gentelman's Tall Chest
Lingerie or Gentelman's Tall Chest
H 53.25 in W 21.63 in D 16 in
Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield 'Contessa' Sofa
By Carl Otto Czeschka, Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Located in Merced, CA
Rare ‘Metronome’ sofa designed by Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield’s ‘Contessa’ line, circa 1959
Category

Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas

Materials

Steel

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Bring home a stunning example of Canadian modernism with this spellbinding rosewood wardrobe designed by Roger Rougier. A multicolored wood grain facade is uniquely offset by off-whi...
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Category

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$12,540 / item
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Rare Victorian Firescreen with Taxidermy Hummingbirds by Henry Ward
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Category

Antique Mid-19th Century English High Victorian Taxidermy

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H 31 in W 72 in D 19.5 in
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Mogens Koch for Rud Radmussen Modular Library in Mahogany
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H 121.66 in W 179.53 in D 14.18 in
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Category

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By Diego Mardegan
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Mid-Century Teak Sofa Bed Daybed with Storage Headboard
Mid-Century Teak Sofa Bed Daybed with Storage Headboard
$2,450
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By American of Martinsville
Located in High Point, NC
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Category

Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets

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Heywood Contessa For Sale on 1stDibs

With a vast inventory of beautiful furniture at 1stDibs, we’ve got just the heywood contessa you’re looking for. Frequently made of metal, wood and brass, every heywood contessa was constructed with great care. Your living room may not be complete without a heywood contessa — find older editions for sale from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 20th Century. Each heywood contessa bearing mid-century modern hallmarks is very popular.

How Much is a Heywood Contessa?

The average selling price for a heywood contessa at 1stDibs is $4,295, while they’re typically $2,595 on the low end and $6,800 for the highest priced.

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 furniture — chairs, tables, dressers and more — 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, the Heywoods 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, Heywood-Wakefield brought in designer Gilbert Rohde, a champion of the Art Deco style. Before departing in 1932 to lead Herman Miller — the prolific Michigan manufacturer that helped transform the American home and office — 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 vintage Heywood-Wakefield desks, vanities, tables and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

A Close Look at Mid-century-modern Furniture

Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.

ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.

Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively. 

Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer

Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.

The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.

As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.

Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.

Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.