Kittinger Desks
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.
1950s American Regency Vintage Kittinger Desks
Brass
Early 20th Century Jacobean Kittinger Desks
Oak, Walnut
1980s Regency Vintage Kittinger Desks
Walnut
1950s American Regency Vintage Kittinger Desks
Brass
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Kittinger Desks
Teak
Early 19th Century German Biedermeier Antique Kittinger Desks
Wood
19th Century British Antique Kittinger Desks
Mahogany
1780s English George III Antique Kittinger Desks
Brass
Early 20th Century American Georgian Kittinger Desks
Brass
Late 19th Century European Renaissance Revival Antique Kittinger Desks
Walnut, Glass
19th Century American American Empire Antique Kittinger Desks
Mahogany, Glass
1920s Swedish Chippendale Vintage Kittinger Desks
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Campaign Kittinger Desks
Leather, Wood
1920s Belgian Louis Philippe Vintage Kittinger Desks
Oak
Mid-20th Century American Georgian Kittinger Desks
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Louis XV Kittinger Desks
Bronze
1970s American American Classical Vintage Kittinger Desks
Brass
1940s American Neoclassical Vintage Kittinger Desks
Brass
1950s American Vintage Kittinger Desks
Wood
20th Century American Kittinger Desks
Brass
