Johnson Furniture Company Beds and Bed Frames

"Pair of antique Johnson Furniture Company twin size bed frames. Made of walnut featuring French Neoclassical styling with carved fluted and twisted accents with carved floral, ribbon and shell motifs. Johnson Furniture Co. 1908 - 1983, Grand Rapids, Michigan Successor to Cabinetmakers Co.; Predecessor to RoseJohnson, Inc. PERSONNEL Johnson Furniture was founded by three brothers who emigrated from Sweden in 1887: Carl (who had received a medal for his cabinetmaking skills from the King of Sweden), Hjalmar, and Axel. Tom Handley, who got his start at the prestigious firm of Waring and Gillow in London, became their in-house designer in 1908 and joined them as an officer in 1922. He continued to hold both positions until his untimely death in 1926. Handley established Johnson and Johnson-Handley-Johnson as major producers of high-quality, period revival, residential furniture. The nature of Handley’s designs required the skills of hand craftsmen like Bohemian-born carver Joseph Heyda, and Austrian-born Frank Davidhazy, Sr., who created the floral, figural and classical designs that were painted on the surfaces of some case pieces. David Robertson Smith, designer of Stickley Brothers Arts and Crafts lines, led Johnson into the production of Art Deco and Modern lines in 1928. The company later claimed that this was the first complete line of “modern” furniture produced in the United States. Lorenzo (Renzo) Rutili served as head of design from 1933 into the 1960s. He personally designed groups in the Modern and Neoclassical repertoires, and oversaw the contracted design of lines by a “Who’s Who” of famous Modern designers, including Paul Frankl, Eliel Saarinen, and J.Robert F. Swanson and Pipsam Swanson. When Earl Johnson retired and the family sold the company in 1963, it was purchased by a group of investors led by James Van Oosten. Milo Baugham and Kipp Stewart designed lines of residential furniture, which Johnson produced for Directional Industries between 1963 and 1968. After being owned by Holiday Inns, Inc. between 1968 and 1975, the company returned to the ownership of Van Oosten and company. PRODUCTS Generally speaking, Johnson produced wood residential furniture for the bedroom, while the Johnson-Handley-Johnson label was used to dining suites, occasional tables, and case pieces for the hall and library. Pieces produced between 1908 and about 1920 were designed in period revival styles, especially Sheraton, Hepplewhite, and Empire, and in a combination of European and American Revivals including Colonial, William and Mary, Jacobean, Queen Anne, French Provincial, Chinese Chippendale, and painted Italian or Venetian, from circa 1920 to 1935. Most notable are pieces designed by Tom Handley, which feature intricate marquetry designs and elaborate carving. Some of his most unusual designs are adaptation of classical Egyptian furniture, introduced in the early 1920s to capitalize upon popular fascination with contemporary archeological discoveries. The 1928 introduction of the Art Deco “Dynamique” line by D. Robertson Smith, with its exotic wood veneers and forms reminiscent of Frankl’s “skyscraper” bookcases, began a long period in which the company concurrently produced both modern and revival lines. Renzo Rutili selected traditional master works from museum collections across the country for reproduction in the 1938 American Museum Group. A sharp contrast to these reproductions came only a year later, when Johnson introduced a modular system for the home known as “Flexible Home Arrangement...

A gorgeous Mid-Century Modern bleached mahogany king size headboard By Paul Frankl for Johnson Furniture USA, circa 1950s Measure...

Paul Frankl king size headboard, 80" wide and 36" tall. Additional pieces are available. Original finish shows wear and fading of color.

Paul Frankl for Johnson Furniture 6-drawer tall dresser. Original as found condition. No veneer damage, all drawers work well. Re-fin...

Bert England for Johnson Furniture Company king size headboard in subtle Asian Modern style with ebonized frame and Cane inserts. Chic and Modern, recalls the decor of the Ambassado...