Baker Sunburst Mirror

Owing to the company’s collaborations with many leading designers and artists over time, vintage Baker furniture is consistently sought after today. The heritage brand’s chairs, dining tables, desks and other pieces are widely known to collectors and design enthusiasts for their fine craftsmanship and durability.

Within a few decades of its launch, Baker Furniture Company evolved into one of the largest and most important furniture manufacturers in the United States and became known for its high-quality production standards. Siebe Baker and business partner Henry Cook founded the original iteration of Baker Furniture Company in 1890 in Allegan, Michigan, after immigrating to the United States from the Netherlands. Allegan is a small town west of Grand Rapids, which, at that time was home to Widdicomb Furniture Co. and more and was known as America’s furniture capital. The company manufactured doors and interior moldings and introduced a combination desk and bookcase in 1893. In the early 1900s, Siebe became the sole owner of the business.

Among others, stage designer Joseph Urban and modernist designer Kem Weber contributed designs to Baker in the 1920s. In 1932, under the leadership of Siebe’s son, Hollis, who started at the company as a salesman but took the reins when his father passed in 1925, Baker Furniture introduced bedroom pieces and debuted its Manor House collection, which made reproductions of European furnishings available to the American market. (Hollis was an avid traveler and procured antiques overseas for the company to reproduce in the United States.) Soon, Baker Furniture Company moved to Holland, Michigan, and eventually opened showrooms in Grand Rapids and elsewhere.

Pioneering Scandinavian designer Finn Juhl created a Danish modern line for Baker in 1951, and the company produced his award-winning Chieftain chair for a short time. In the late 1950s, Baker introduced the Milling Road label to reach a younger audience with stylish but less costly furnishings like console tables, walnut dining chairs and more, and in 1961, British furniture designer T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings introduced a modern neoclassical line at Baker.

The 1960s and ’70s saw the introduction of historic reproduction furniture lines such as Woburn Abbey and the Historic Charleston collection, which remain very popular to this day. In 1990, Baker was licensed to produce a furniture line from Colonial Williamsburg. That same year, the Smithsonian Museum introduced Baker’s Chippendale chair into its permanent collection and the Grand Rapids Art Museum dedicated an exhibition to Baker’s 100th anniversary, a showcase that included 150 pieces of furniture Siebe Baker had collected as part of a larger assortment that had served as inspiration for his designs.

Today, vintage Baker furniture, such as its elegant mahogany nightstands and teak credenzas — particularly those crafted by Finn Juhl — sees high demand online and elsewhere. The company continues to produce contemporary collections with well-known designers such as Bill Sofield, Barbara Barry and Kara Mann and remains on par with some of the highest quality furniture in the industry.

Browse vintage Baker armchairs, sofas, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Antique, new and vintage sunburst mirrors are popular decorative mirrors that hang in today’s modernist homes as often as they have been integrated in spaces that are comparatively traditional. Ornate and versatile, these sun-shaped fixtures are eye-catching and versatile.

Sunburst mirrors were a staple of Hollywood Regency homes from the 1920s to the 1950s. Hollywood Regency sunburst mirrors — which refers to mirrors designed in the dramatic style of interior design associated with the work of Billy Haines and Tony Duquette and pioneered by unsung decorator Dorothy Draper — became the perfect glitzy accessory. They combine a reflective surface with a spiky metallic frame that mimics sunrays. These mirrors are outwardly sculptural and prove audacious no matter what your chosen furniture style is. A sunburst mirror will be by no means an understated addition to your space.

Alternatively, you might find more diversity in Baroque pieces designed during the 1930s. These mirrors, although elaborate in their carved giltwood and natural-world motifs, offer a more tangible sense of balance and symmetry given how closely the size of the frame matches that of the mirror.

Given their reflective properties, natural light is your friend here. A sunburst mirror hung opposite a window will brighten up any space and make a statement in any bedroom or living room.

On 1stDibs, find a range of antique, new and vintage sunburst mirrors and other mirrors for any space.