Maurice Villency Furniture
Known to collectors for his strict adherence to quality with respect to the furniture he manufactured or imported for sale, designer and entrepreneur Maurice Villency brought the highest standards of excellence into his stores. He created and built his own furniture in a loft studio in Manhattan and eventually opened a handful of retail outlets in the New York metro area that offered sleek and stylish furnishings from all over the world.
Villency is among the small business owners that helped introduce the Scandinavian modern style to the United States during the postwar era, when tastemakers really sold Americans on the earthier, homier aspects of Scandinavian design.
Villency also imported pieces from French, Italian and Belgian designers and proudly promoted their fine wares in the showrooms of his four stores. Additional Villency family-owned stores were eventually established and traded under the name Preferred Seating.
Villency was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father was a cabinetmaker, and when he was 15, his family moved to the U.S. and settled in New York State. At 19, Villency moved to New York City and began working for the Pullman Couch Company.
Villency showed great skill in his work, quickly becoming the plant manager — and later head designer – for the furniture company. In the early 1930s, Pullman moved their entire operations to Chicago, and Villency chose to stay behind. Determined to follow his own path, Villency opened a workshop on 8th Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood and found increasing success.
Like the Danish cabinetmakers he so admired, Villency designed chairs and other pieces and worked with fine woods such as teak, a sought-after material among mid-century modern designers. Early on, he made an impression with a sectional sofa he designed, and he would later tout the versatile appeal of sectional sofas and other modular furniture in full-page print ads for his retail locations. On a good day, a prospective buyer could stroll into Maurice Villency and find designs by French brand Roche Bobois, Danish manufacturer Farsø Stolefabrik, American modernist Milo Baughman and more.
Maurice’s company eventually came to be called Villency Design Group and today, his grandson Eric Villency — who works in product design, interiors and more — is CEO.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Maurice Villency tables, storage pieces and seating.
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Velvet
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Velvet, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Leather
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Maurice Villency Furniture
Fabric, Teak
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Leather
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Velvet, Wood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Maurice Villency Furniture
Chrome
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Maurice Villency Furniture
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Velvet
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Textile, Wood
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Maurice Villency Furniture
Leather, Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary British Mid-Century Modern Maurice Villency Furniture
Metal, Brass
