Writing Desk Statler

In 1855, William Berkey arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and founded a mill to manufacture window sashes and other wood building products. He was joined by his brother, Julius, who later began manufacturing what became known as the Berkey table. This was highly successful, and soon the Berkey brothers were concentrating on making furniture. 

The company took on various partners over time, including George W. Gay, who bought an interest in the company in 1866 to form Berkey Brothers & Gay. In 1873, William Berkey withdrew from the company, and Julius Berkey and George W. Gay incorporated to form the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company. In 1874, the new company opened its six-story factory, complete with wholesale and retail showrooms, in Grand Rapids. By 1882, this factory covered three city blocks. The company is known for making Victorian furniture.

George W. Gay, although continuing to be involved with Berkey & Gay, also struck out on his own business ventures. One of these was the Oriel Cabinet Company, which he established in 1880. Oriel Cabinet constructed a factory at this site in the 1880s, but the original factory was destroyed by fire in 1890. In 1892, the company constructed a new factory, which continues to occupy the site. 

Both Oriel Cabinet and Berkey & Gay continued independently until 1911, when the two companies merged. The Oriel factory became Berkey & Gay's Plant No. 1 following the merger, and an addition was immediately made to the plant in 1912. In 1919 the company further expanded the factory 240 feet north along Monroe Avenue.

In 1920, the company merged with the Wallace Furniture Company and the Grand Rapids Upholstery Company to form Consolidated Furniture Companies but continued to use the trademark Berkey & Gay because of its name recognition. 

Sales increased in the 1920s and the company aggressively expanded. However, when the Great Depression hit, the company was unable to continue financing its new sites and was forced to sell to the Chicago-based Simmons Company. Even this was not enough, as Simmons declared bankruptcy in 1931, and the Grand Rapids factories closed their doors. 

Local stockholders reopened the factory in 1935, and continued production until World War II, when it was converted to wartime needs. After the war, an attempt was made to convert back to furniture production, but the company was again forced to declare bankruptcy in 1948 and closed the factory for good.

The Berkey & Gay Furniture Company used three different types of labels to mark the tables and other furniture that they manufactured. The first label was branded into the wood and can often be found inside the drawers of authentic Berkey & Gay sideboards and other case pieces. Around the year 1900 the branded type label was replaced by a paper label. The brass label was used starting around the 1920s until Berkey and Gay went out of business in the 1940s.

Find antique Berkey & Gay buffets, dining tables, sideboards and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Schear Brothers)

The California-born style of Hollywood Regency, also known as Regency Moderne, emerged during the Golden Era of cinema from the 1920s to the ’50s. Decadent and bold, vintage Hollywood Regency furniture and interiors playfully mix colors like jewel tones and hot pinks with lacquered walls, gilded accents, mirrored surfaces and metallic finishes for maximalist spaces.

Although it involved elements of the coinciding Art Deco movement, such as a preference for clean lines, Hollywood Regency was much more opulent, inspired by glamorous movie stars and the lavish set designs for films being made in Tinseltown. Furniture designers associated with the style embraced an eclectic range of influences, including throwbacks to previous styles of grandeur, such as Rococo, neoclassical and chinoiserie, as well as materials, from bamboo dining chairs to lucite bar carts to sunburst mirrors made from gilded resin. Hollywood Regency end tables, floor lamps, chandeliers and other pieces tended to be small-scale, fitting into an overall design rather than serving as a focal point.

Interior decorator Dorothy Draper led the shaping of the Hollywood Regency style and also designed iconic pieces like the España chest, which was manufactured by Henredon. Virginia native William “Billy” Haines, a furniture designer who started as an actor, contrasted hand-painted wallpaper with Chinese ceramics and Chippendale chairs, while architect John Elgin Woolf imbued his Beverly Hills designs with theatrical details. Paul Revere Williams, a trailblazing African-American architect, was pivotal in defining the look through his commercial projects, such as the 1940s Beverly Hills Hotel and bespoke homes that mixed everything from Louis XV paneling to Georgian architecture.

Find a collection of vintage Hollywood Regency bedroom furniture, tables, seating and other pieces on 1stDibs.

Whether burnished or lacquered, antique, new and vintage brass furniture can elevate a room.

From traditional spaces that use brass as an accent — by way of brass dining chairs or brass pendant lights — to contemporary rooms that embrace bold brass decor, there are many ways to incorporate the golden-hued metal.

“I find mixed metals to be a very updated approach, as opposed to the old days, when it was all shiny brass of dulled-out silver tones,” says interior designer Drew McGukin. “I especially love working with brass and blackened steel for added warmth and tonality. To me, aged brass is complementary across many design styles and can trend contemporary or traditional when pushed either way.”

He proves his point in a San Francisco entryway, where a Lindsey Adelman light fixture hangs above a limited-edition table and stools by Kelly Wearstler — also an enthusiast of juxtapositions — all providing bronze accents. The walls were hand-painted by artist Caroline Lizarraga and the ombré stair runner is by DMc.

West Coast designer Catherine Kwong chose a sleek brass and lacquered-parchment credenza by Scala Luxury to fit this San Francisco apartment. “The design of this sideboard is reminiscent of work by French modernist Jean Prouvé. The brass font imbues the space with warmth and the round ‘portholes’ provide an arresting geometric element.”

Find antique, new and vintage brass tables, case pieces and other furnishings now on 1stDibs.

Choosing the perfect writing desk or writing table is a profoundly personal journey, one that people have been embarking upon for centuries.

Queen Atossa of Persia, from her writing table circa 500 B.C., is said to have been the originator of the art of handwritten letters. Hers was reportedly the first in a long and colorful history of penned correspondence that grew in popularity alongside literacy. The demand for suitable writing desks, which would serve the composer of the letters as well as ensure the comfort of the recipient naturally followed, and the design of these necessary furnishings has evolved throughout history.

Once people began to seek freedom from the outwardly ornate styles of the walnut and rosewood writing desks and drafting tables introduced in the name of Queen Victoria and King Louis XV, radical shifts occurred, such as those that materialized during the Art Nouveau period, when designers longed to produce furniture inspired by the natural world’s beauty. A prime example is the work of the famous late-19th-century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí — his rolltop desk featured deep side drawers and was adorned with carved motifs that paid tribute to nature. Gaudí regularly combined structural precision with decorative elements, creating beautiful pieces of furniture in wood and metal.

Soon afterward, preferences for sleek, geometric, stylized forms in furniture that saw an emphasis on natural wood grains and traditional craftsmanship took hold. Today, Art Deco desks are still favored by designers who seek to infuse interiors with an air of luxury. One of the most prominent figures of the Art Deco movement was French decorator and furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. With his use of neoclassical motifs as well as expensive and exotic materials such as imported dark woods and inlays of precious metals for his writing desks, Ruhlmann came to symbolize good taste and modernity.

The rise in appreciation for Scandinavian modernism continues to influence the design of contemporary writing desks. It employs the “no fuss” or “less is more” approach to creating a tasteful, sophisticated space. Sweden’s master cabinetmaker Bruno Mathsson created gallery-worthy designs that are as functional as they are beautiful. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto never viewed himself as an artist, but, like Mathsson, his furniture designs reflected a fondness for organic materials and a humanistic approach. Danish designers such as Hans Wegner introduced elegant shapes and lines to mid-century desks and writing tables, often working in oak and solid teak.

From vintage desks to contemporary styles, 1stDibs offers a broad spectrum of choices for conducting all personal and business writing and reading activities.