Antique Heywood Wakefield Victorian Wicker Rocking Arm Chair Rattan Seat 1900s
View Similar Items
Antique Heywood Wakefield Victorian Wicker Rocking Arm Chair Rattan Seat 1900s
About the Item
- Creator:Heywood-Wakefield Co. (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 26 in (66.04 cm)Seat Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)
- Style:Victorian (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Early 1900s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good antique condition, blemishing to wood on seat.
- Seller Location:Dayton, OH
- Reference Number:Seller: 315881stDibs: LU5343225410972
Heywood-Wakefield Co.
Created by the 19th-century merger of two venerable Massachusetts furniture makers, Heywood-Wakefield was one of the largest and most successful companies of its kind in the United States. In its early decades, the firm thrived by crafting affordable and hugely popular wicker pieces in traditional and historical styles. In the midst of the Great Depression, however, Heywood-Wakefield reinvented itself, creating instead the first modernist furnishings to be widely embraced in American households.
The Heywoods were five brothers from Gardner, Massachusetts, who in 1826 started a business making wooden chairs and tables in their family shed. As their company grew, they moved into the manufacture of furniture with steam-bent wood frames and cane or wicker seats, backs and sides. In 1897, they joined forces with a local rival, the Wakefield Rattan Company, whose founder, Cyrus Wakefield, got his start on the Boston docks buying up lots of discarded rattan, which was used as cushioning material in the holds of cargo ships, and transforming it into furnishings. The conglomerate initially did well with both early American style and woven pieces, but taste began to change at the turn of the 20th century and wicker furniture fell out of fashion. In 1930, the company brought in designer Gilbert Rohde, a champion of the Art Deco style. Before departing in 1932 to lead the Michigan furniture maker Herman Miller, Rohde created well-received sleek, bentwood chairs for Heywood-Wakefield and gave its colonial pieces a touch of Art Deco flair.
Committed to the new style, Heywood-Wakefield commissioned work from an assortment of like-minded designers, including Alfons Bach, W. Joseph Carr, Leo Jiranek and Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, a Russian nobleman who had made his name in Europe creating elegant automotive body designs.
In 1936, the company introduced its “Streamline Modern” group of furnishings, presenting a look that would define the company’s wares for another 30 years. The buoyantly bright, blond wood — maple initially, later birch — came in finishes such as amber “wheat” and pink-tinted “champagne.” The forms of the pieces, at once light and substantial, with softly contoured edges and little adornment beyond artful drawer pulls and knobs, were featured in lines with names such as “Sculptura,” “Crescendo” and “Coronet.” It was forward-looking, optimistic and built to last — a draw for middle-class buyers in the Baby Boom years.
By the 1960s, Heywood-Wakefield began to be seen as “your parents’ furniture.” The last of the Modern line came out in 1966; the company went bankrupt in 1981. The truly sturdy pieces have weathered the intervening years well, having found a new audience for their blithe and happy sophistication.
Find a collection of vintage Heywood-Wakefield desks, chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Vintage Thonet Style Large Bamboo Bentwood Cane Rattan Rocking Arm ChairBy ThonetLocated in Dayton, OHA large Iconic bentwood rocking chair, attributed to Thonet. Made from bamboo in with caned back and seat. Measures: 22" x 42" x 42" / Seat Height - 20" at front before sitting, 1...Category
Mid-20th Century Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsBamboo, Cane, Bentwood
- Antique Late Victorian Oak Pressback Upholstered Rocking Chair Rocker CameoLocated in Dayton, OHAntique late Victorian pressback rocking chair. A beautiful design featuring a serpentine crest rail with a laurel wreath wrapped cameo at the center featuring a distinguished gentl...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Late Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Oak
- Antique Victorian Stomps Burkhardt Quartersawn Oak Caned Rocker Rocking ChairLocated in Dayton, OH"Antique Victorian Stomps Burkhardt rocking chair. Made of quartersawn oak featuring serpentine form with caned seat. In 1860, Gustav Stomps established the firm G. Stomps Brothers in partnership with a brother, Joseph, and Martin Barbec. Richard P. Burkhardt purchased Barbec's interest on November 2, 1869, and Gustav Stomps bought out his brother. The company manufactured chairs by machinery. In 1890, the firm became Stomps-Burkhardt Company. Located in Dayton, Ohio “The chair factory was located downtown, at the corner of First and Canal streets. It’s Patterson Boulevard and First Street now. They had buildings on both the east and west sides of the canal. A third man started with them, but dropped out, and one of Gustave’s son-in-laws, Richard Burkhardt, bought out his share.” Through the years, various members of the Stomps and Burkhardt families worked at the company, best known for its chairs, which could be transported along the canal throughout Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana and New York, and later on to Canada and Mexico. “Each year, they’d put out what they called a ‘Roman’ chair with arms, always very regal looking with carvings,” said Grismer. “They made one for Holy Rosary Church with a cross, but others had what look like monsters’ faces or just interesting one-of-a-kind carvings.” When Gustave Stomps died in 1890, his brother had already opened his own furniture factory, and the sons of Burkhardt took over the chair factory until it closed in 1928. By 1900, the forests surrounding downtown that supplied the sawmills had dwindled, and they had to travel to Kentucky for wood. In addition, the end of the canal days and 1913 flood had negative impacts on the business, adding to its downfall. The business’ heyday spanned 1890-1900, when it employed 235 and had $250,000-$300,000 in annual sales. Special chairs...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsCane, Oak
- Iconic Thonet Style Bentwood Rocking Chair Natural Cane Rattan Seat Back RockerBy ThonetLocated in Dayton, OHThonet style attributed rocking chair. Circa mid century. Made from hardwood in classic bentwood styling with rattan back and seat. Dimensions: 40" ...Category
Mid-20th Century Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsCane, Bentwood
- Antique Late Victorian Carved Quartersawn Oak Barrel Back Rocking Chair RockerLocated in Dayton, OHLate Victorian Rocking Chair. Attributed to Stomps Burkhardt of Dayton, Ohio. Made from quartersawn oak with a heart shaped back, carved and pierced...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Late Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsOak
- Antique 19th Century Victorian Ebonized Platform Rocker Rocking Chair RegencyLocated in Dayton, OHLate 19th century Victorian platform rocking chair. Features a hardwood ebonized frame with gold trim and striped upholstery. DIMENSI...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Late Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Hardwood
- 1800s Antique Heywood Wakefield Large Wicker Rocking Arm Chair with Springs SeatBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Germantown, MD1870s Heywood Wakefield Victorian Wicker rocking arm chair. Ultra comfortable and in very good condition. Seat cushion upholstery in great shape, ver...Category
Antique Mid-19th Century American Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$1,218 Sale Price35% Off - Antique Heywood Wakefield Woven Wicker Victorian Platform Rocker Rocking ChairBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Philadelphia, PAAntique Heywood Wakefield Woven Wicker Victorian platform rocker rocking chair. Item features carved wood platform rocker base with rolling c...Category
Antique 19th Century North American Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsWicker, Wood
- Victorian Wicker Rocking ChairLocated in Pasadena, CAThis is a very good example of a late Victorian wicker rocking chair that that is detailed in scrolling wicker and a diamond pattern, in addition to a...Category
Antique 1890s American Late Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsWicker, Wood
$1,195 Sale Price39% Off - Boho Chic Bamboo Wicker Rattan Rocking ChairLocated in Delray Beach, FLAmazing bamboo wicker rocking chair. Additional Information: Material: Bamboo, Rattan, Wicker Color: Brown Style: Boho Chic Time Period: 1980s Place of origin: Taiwan Dimension: 20....Category
20th Century Taiwanese Bohemian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsBamboo
- Antique Victorian Heywood Wakefield School Rolled Arm Photographers Chair c1890By Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Big Flats, NYAn antique Victorian photographers chair in the manner of Heywood Wakefield offers wicker construction with rolled back and arm over bombe form sea...Category
Antique Late 19th Century American Victorian Chairs
MaterialsWicker
$600 Sale Price20% Off - Antique Wicker and Rattan Wooden Victorian Rocking Chair RockerLocated in Philadelphia, PAAntique Wicker and Rattan Wooden Victorian Rocking Chair Rocker. Item features a solid wood wicker wrapped frame, very nice antique, quality ...Category
Antique 19th Century Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsWicker, Rattan, Wood