Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
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.
1960s American Regency Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Brass
1940s American Hollywood Regency Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century American Chippendale Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
20th Century American British Colonial Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mahogany
1980s American Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut, Leather
Mid-20th Century French Empire Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1930s German Art Deco Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Acrylic, Burl, Wood
Late 20th Century American Chippendale Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mahogany, Oak
1960s American Directoire Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
Late 19th Century English Victorian Antique Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Chippendale Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Crystal
1930s French Neoclassical Revival Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Walnut
20th Century Art Deco Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Georgian Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Queen Anne Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Queen Anne Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1920s American Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass, Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
1940s American Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mid-20th Century American Neoclassical Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mid-20th Century American Neoclassical Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
1940s American Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Mahogany, Satinwood
1940s American Vintage Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Lacquer
20th Century American Kittinger Desks and Writing Tables
Brass