Kittinger Furniture
Before it became a legendary American manufacturer of traditional furniture, Kittinger Furniture was a paper company called Thompson, Colie & Company (later to become Colie & Son), after its founders, Oliver and George Colie. The father-son entrepreneurs started a small business in 1866 manufacturing paper products and, subsequently, upholstered furniture in Buffalo, New York. Business for the latter was so successful that in order to keep up with demand, the Colies opened a second factory in 1885 that focused on handcrafted furniture designed in 18th-century styles.
Later, George Colie decided to sell his beloved company to his son-in-law, Irvine J. Kittinger Sr., and his brother, Ralph. They changed the name to the Kittinger Furniture Company in 1913. In 1929, the company’s sales exceeded $1 million, which allowed the brothers to expand far beyond Buffalo, opening showrooms in Chicago, Dallas and other cities across the United States, where they could present their expert reproductions of popular historic furniture styles for the home and office.
In 1937, Kittinger was granted an exclusive license to reproduce antique custom furniture for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The company manufactured Hepplewhite-style chests of drawers, mahogany Chippendale dressers, Asian-influenced mid-century modern marble-top coffee tables of ebonized wood and a variety of other pieces. The brand’s revered Mandarin line, a Hollywood Regency–style collection that debuted in the 1940s, included bedroom furnishings such as lacquered wood vanities, nightstands and more, each featuring prominent Greek key drawer pulls and decorative black trim.
Between the mid-1970s and 1990s, Kittinger Furniture changed hands frequently and even went out of business. In 1996, Raymond Bialkowski, a former master cabinetmaker for the company, and his wife, Karen, purchased the company and, along with some other former Kittinger craftsmen, began creating furniture under its name once again in north Buffalo. Over the years, Kittinger has produced furniture for the White House, including a handcrafted conference table and chairs for the Cabinet Room during President Nixon’s administration and chairs for the Roosevelt Room in 2016.
Today, the award-winning Kittinger Furniture continues to make historical and new custom handcrafted pieces of high quality.
Find a range of Kittinger Furniture on 1stDibs.
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Kittinger Furniture
Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Marble
1960s Mexican Art Deco Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Onyx, Brass
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Kittinger Furniture
Metal
1950s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Stone
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century German Scandinavian Modern Kittinger Furniture
Stone, Chrome
1980s Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Onyx, Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Brass
1960s American Hollywood Regency Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Bamboo, Cane, Glass
Early 2000s Philippine Regency Kittinger Furniture
Mahogany
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Walnut, Wood
1960s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Metal
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Stone
20th Century American George II Kittinger Furniture
Brass
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Leather, Wood
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Bakelite, Wood
1940s American Vintage Kittinger Furniture
Wood
