Retro Drexel French Provincial Dresser

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 oakwood, 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, reportedly 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.

Removed from the fashions of the court, French Provincial style developed in the provinces of the country, such as Provence, Normandy, the Loire Valley and Bordeaux. Dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, French Provincial furniture was not as ostentatious as the designs being produced for the royal palaces, but elegant S-shape cabriole legs and ornate carvings elevated the sturdy chairs, sofas, tables and bedroom furniture intended for everyday use.

Although it varies by region, antique French Provincial furniture is unified by solid construction and an artisanal attention to design. While this furniture often followed the metropolitan trends — including the Rococo or neoclassical aesthetics of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI — since it was produced in the French countryside it was more subdued with nods to its rustic settings.

Local materials like fruitwoods, oak, beech and walnut were used to construct large French Provincial armoires for storage and comfortable armchairs with rush-woven seats. Wrought-iron elements and carvings like floral details and scallop patterns were common as ornamentation. Furniture was frequently painted white or other muted colors that coordinated with gilt and would acquire a patina of age over time. Other wood was just stained with vibrant fabric such as toile de Jouy, which sometimes depicted pastoral scenes, adding color as upholstery.

The style arrived in the United States after World War I, with soldiers returning home wanting furniture like what they had seen in the rural homes and castles of France. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, designer John Widdicomb split from his family business, the Widdicomb Furniture Company, and had been focusing on Louis XV– and French Provincial–style furnishings since the early 1900s. Other American manufacturers such as Baker, Drexel, Henredon and Thomasville also responded to demand. Today antique French Provincial pieces and reproductions continue to be popular.

Find a collection of antique French Provincial dining tables, seating, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Antique, new and vintage dressers are a staple in any household. Whether it’s a 19th-century solid pine or oak Welsh kitchen dresser you’re using to store tableware or a Broyhill Brasilia highboy in your bedroom, these furniture fixtures are essential for making the most of your space.

The first step in finding the perfect dresser is considering your particular needs. Most tall dressers offer anywhere from five to seven drawers, essentially allowing for the organization of an entire wardrobe, while shorter, waist-height dresser varieties can be equipped with a convenient vanity mirror.

A highboy dresser is usually around six feet tall, with some versions standing even taller at seven feet or so. Highboys, which began to appear with frequency during the early 17th century in England, are essentially very tall dressers with lots of drawers, whereas a lowboy is a different type of storage furniture in that it's a dressing table with one or two rows of drawers. 

When shopping for your antique or vintage dresser, consider those that bear the hallmarks of solid construction. Good furniture means making an investment, and solid hardwood pieces of maple, walnut or cherry will prove far more durable than a bedroom dresser made of particleboard.

If you’re looking for a mid-century modern case piece that boasts a subdued pairing of wood grains and uncomplicated drawer pulls, browse elegant dressers designed by Florence Knoll, Harvey Probber, Paul McCobb and other furniture makers associated with the celebrated style on 1stDibs. 

Dressers characterized by bolder designs are also popular: Not only will your new piece of furniture be a storage solution, but it'll also make a statement.

Art Deco furniture makers preferred to work with dark woods and typically incorporated decorative embellishments. An ornately carved French or Italian Art Deco dresser complete with vanity mirror and cabriole scrolled feet might better complement the other pieces in your home. Alternatively, if you favor sumptuous antique furniture with curving lines and floral flourishes, the collection on 1stDibs also includes sophisticated 1800s-era Victorian walnut dressers and washstands with marble tops.

After all, a good case piece isn’t merely for minimizing clutter in your space. The style of your chosen dresser and its specific attributes should add something to your decor and your home. Modern creations include one-of-a-kind shapes, like the venturesome chests of drawers in leather, marble and wood crafted by the likes of Roberto Cavalli.

Explore a broad array of antique and vintage dressers today on 1stDibs.