Evoking rusticity and relaxation through simple and elegant designs, vintage Adirondack furniture originated in the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York. The most famous piece is the Adirondack chair, which dates to 1903.
With its ample armrests and sturdy but comfortable slanted seat, the reclined Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee for his own country home. The postwar golden age of modern patio and garden furniture production — led by the likes of Brown Jordan, Knoll, Salterini and Woodard — was decades away at the time, and there were few pieces of furniture specifically created for outdoor use.
Lee, a Massachusetts-born Harvard graduate raised in a wealthy family, was no furniture designer. He merely needed a durable, rugged chair for afternoons in the sun while he was vacationing on Lake Champlain in Westport, New York, in the summer. The amateur woodworker used just one wooden plank cut into 11 segments that were jointed together for his now-legendary seat, which is said to have been made of hemlock, hickory or basswood.
The story of the Adirondack chair continues with Lee’s friend, carpenter Harry Bunnell, covertly patenting the chair and going on to produce it as the Westport Plank chair for a growing audience over the next two decades. Over a century later, the Adirondack chair has gone through several design evolutions while maintaining its popularity and basic form with slats of wood such as pine offering comfort both indoors and out.
The widespread demand for rustic Adirondack outdoor furniture was bolstered by the turn-of-the-century establishment of rural escapes to treat diseases such as tuberculosis. The low-slung Adirondack chair became common in these places of convalescence, allowing patients to recline and breathe in the country air. It also complemented the camp-style architecture that was prevalent in the Adirondacks for recreation as well as restoration, where rugged furniture with exposed wood and minimal carving filled interiors and wide porches.
Today, Adirondack chairs are made in a range of materials and can be found around the world, from ski resorts to lakeside piers, their durability and classic form making them an enduring favorite for spending time in nature.
Find vintage Adirondack chairs, benches, lounge chairs, decorative objects, folk art and other furniture on 1stDibs.
19thc Sip and Sons 1 gal Crock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ripe and Sons Williamport PA decorated Butter Crock. Wonderful patina and color, the body of this crock is in great condition.
Pottery
Smith Stoneware Jar Crock from NY
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Salt glazed stone ware jar with "W Smith Stoneware New York" as a front stamp. Great size and great form. Gorgeous 7.25 tall.
Pottery
$760Sale Price|20% Off
Early 20thc Wiliamsport 1.5 Gal Butter crock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Early 20th century butter crock from Pennsylvania. Wonderful age and color. the body of this butter crock is in great condition.
Pottery
19th Century Sponge Ware Butter Crock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19th century sponge ware butter crock in very good condition.
Pottery
19th C Decorated Salt Glazed Crock with Floral Motif
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19th C decorated salt glazed crock with floral motif.
Pottery
19thc Sponge Ware Butter Bowl
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Late 19thc Butter bowl with sponge ware design. The butter stamp is integrated withing the design showing what is seemingly a knife as the pattern with the letters forming the blunt ...
Pottery
19th Century Stoneware Flower Decorated Crock from Maryland
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19th century stoneware salt glazed flower decorated ovoid Baltimore Maryland jar or crock. Great earlier ovoid form with hand tooled top rim...
Pottery
$1,516Sale Price|20% Off
19thc Cowden & Wilcox Decorated Crock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This fine decorated snow flake blue glazed Cowden & Wilcox three gallon crock is in pristine condition. This fine crock has interesting glazing and also ...
Pottery
19thc Stoneware jug, Cowden and Wilcox
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Snow flake pattern
Pottery
Set of Three Mid 19thc Pottery Jars Set of Three
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Largest jar- 6 diameter x 10 high Medium jar - 5.5 diameter x 8.5high small jar - 4.25 x 8.5 set of three 19thc decorated storage jars. Great wear and age. wonderful patina.
Pottery
19th C Mochaware Mixing Bowl W/Spout
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rare 19th C mochaware mixing bowl w/spout.
Pottery
Rare 19Thc Sponge Ware Coffee Canister
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This super rare 19thc Sponge ware pottery coffee canister is in very good condition.We have only ever seen one other like this before.
Pottery
19th C Sponge Pottery Butter Crocks -3
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Each crock measure approximately 6 inches in diameter x 3.5 inches in height.
Pottery
19th Century Rare Sponge Ware Pottery Bean Pot
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This fine sponge ware pottery bean pot with the original lid is in fine condition.
Pottery
Collection of Five 19th Century Sponge Ware Custard Cups
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This collection of five 19th century sponge ware pottery custard cups ate in good condition.
Pottery
19thc DL & AK ballard 3 galon Jug, New England
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19thc Large 3 gallon Jug From New England. maker is DL & AK Ballard. New England. Wonderful patina and wonderful age marks.
Pottery
Robert Picault Vallauris Mid-Century Hand Painted Pottery Pan Shaped Dish
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A rare and important stunning French art pottery pan shaped handled serving dish by Robert Picault and made in Vallauris in the South of France. Working cl...
Pottery, Terracotta
$542Sale Price|30% Off
H 9.25 in Dm 8 in
Mid-20th Century Hand-Thrown Studio Pottery Vessel, Citron Glaze, USA
Located in Wainscott, NY
Mid-20th Century Studio Pottery Vessel in Citron Hand-thrown studio pottery vessel, mid-20th century, finished in a luminous citron glaze with subtle tonal variation and fine speckl...
Clay
19th Century Greek Revival Copeland Spode Bowl
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
A vibrant Neoclassical Revival decorative bowl in the 'Greek' pattern made by Copeland Spode in the late 19th century. Sir William Hamilton’s Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman antiquities, first published in 1766 by Pierre d’Hancarville, was a landmark publication in English design. It intended to disseminate the Antique style through its engravings of Attic pottery. The catalog’s faithful reproductions of Classical vases led British potteries, including Spode, to adapt or even copy the ancient art for modern life. This Copeland Spode Greek...
Earthenware, Pearlware
$450Sale Price|52% Off
H 4.75 in Dm 6.75 in
Modernist Sgraffito Decorated Red Ware Pottery Bowl by Rozsika Blackstone
Located in Ferndale, MI
Rozsika Blackstone New York and Arizona, circa 1920-62 pottery vessel. Deep bowl in dark brown glaze, sgraffito decorated in an abstract vertical design allowing the red ware...
Pottery
Rare French Pale Green Glazed Terracotta Pot with Antique Patina
Located in IT
This rare French pale green glazed terracotta pot is a beautiful vintage collectible with a unique, time-worn patina. The exterior features a delicate pale green glaze, while the int...
Pottery
19th Century Westerwald German Salt Glazed Stoneware Crock
Located in Pearland, TX
An antique 19th-Century German Westerwald salt glazed gray stoneware crock or jar with charming applied handles and cobalt blue scrolls and flowers. It would be lovely with a bouquet...
Stoneware
Maria and Santana Martinez Black Ware Pottery Jar
By Navajo
Located in Coeur d'Alene, ID
Black on black pottery jar with very finely etched feather design and three concentric bands, signed Marie and Santana. 1943 -1956; 5 3/4" x 6 1/2". ...
Clay
Teapot with Checkered & Salt Glaze, Vintage Studio Pottery
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Vintage stoneware teapot features whimsical, exaggerated shape, accentuated with colorful glaze. The body and the lid are decorated with quirky red and cream checkered pattern, and t...
Ceramic, Pottery
Green-Glazed Terracotta Jug, Late 19th–Early 20th Century
Located in Atlanta, GA
This terracotta jug, produced between the late 19th and early 20th century, is finished in a deep green lead-based glaze characteristic of regional European utilitarian pottery. The ...
Terracotta
Wedgwood Crimson Dip Jasper Ware Garden Pot
By Wedgwood
Located in Asheville, NC
Etruria, Staffordshire, circa 1925, turned Wedgwood shape no. 317, stoneware with crimson Jasper dip ground, decorated with sprigged white Jasper bas-relief depictions of muses and A...
Stoneware
French 19th Century Green and Yellow Splash-Glaze Confit Pot
Located in Atlanta, GA
Made in France around 1840, this confit pot is finished in a green glaze with a yellow splash. Confit pots were everyday kitchen vessels used to store meat preserved in its own fat, ...
Terracotta
$360Sale Price / set|20% Off
H 3 in W 4.25 in D 4.25 in
Two Southwestern Native American Redware Pueblo Pottery Signed Bowls 20thC
Located in Big Flats, NY
Two Southwestern Native American Redware Pueblo Pottery Artist Signed Bowls 20thC Small 2 1/8" x 3" x 3" Large - 3" x 4 1/4" X 4 1/4" A pair of Sout...
Pottery
19th Century Striped Western PA Cobalt Stoneware Jar
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Western PA three stripe storage jar. Primitive feel looks great with nice deep blue stripes going all around the jar.
Pottery
19th Century Cowden & Wilcox 2 Gal Fox Glove Design Stoneware Jug
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Cowden & Wilcox 2 Gal jug has a Classic blue cobalt fox glove design. Each end at the loop handles are brushed with cobalt blue. Beautiful salt glaze and gre...
Pottery
19th Century Lewis Jones Pittston Cobalt Blue Decorated Crock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19th century Lewis Jones Pittston PA. Fine 3-gallon blue cobalt decorated stoneware crock. Stamped with maker’s mark. Hand Brisked cobalt floral decor...
Pottery