Armchairs, Harvard Model, William Haines, USA, circa 1965

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Armchairs, Harvard Model, William Haines, USA, circa 1965

About the Item

This pair of elegant chairs originally made for the home of Eddie Chiles in Fort Worth are a prime example of this quality of execution. Aside from their comfort, the value of these pieces is not only their make and provenance, but also that they still possess their original upholstery: A cheerful floral quilted motif much like chairs photographed in the various Reagan, Ford and Annenberg homes William Haines decorated during the same era. The chairs will be shipped from Texas. Glamour. That's the right word to define the life and work of William Haines. By 1925 he was already the most important male star of MGM Studios, participating in successful films alongside Joan Crawford, Constance Bennett, and Marion Davis, among others. But in 1934 MGM decided to terminate Haines's contract due to his openly homosexual status. Quick to turn lemons into lemonade, it was then that Haines and his lifelong partner, Jimmy Shields, decided to establish a business related to interiors and the trade of antiques. For decades, William Haines was perhaps the most sought-after interior designer by Hollywood's glamorous elite, working steadily until his death in 1973, establishing professional relationships and enduring friendships with clients that included Carole Lombard, Joan Crawford, the Walter Annenbergs, Betsy Bloomingdale, Nancy and Ronald Reagan. And the list goes on and on. Haines's celebrated interiors are characterized by a balance between the contemporary and the Classic, between the formal and the casual, with "quality of execution" the thread linking all. William Haines always considered "different" to be an opportunity to showcase beauty. And at its essence, this is the style of the many varieties of furniture, as well as interiors, that he created.

Creator:
William Billy Haines (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)Depth: 36 in (91.44 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Fabric,Feathers,Quilted
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Mid-20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1965
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Mexico City, MX
Reference Number:
Seller: M07751stDibs: LU145327192133

Shop All William Billy Haines

William Billy Haines

Plenty of prolific designers started off on slightly different tracks than those on which they ended up, but rarely did they begin their careers in a totally separate industry like William “Billy” Haines did. Before he gained a reputation as a furniture designer and decorator to Hollywood’s biggest and brightest, Haines was himself a star of the silver screen.

After leaving his native Virginia as a young man, Haines earned modeling and acting jobs in New York City and then won a Goldwyn Studios talent contest in the early 1920s. The next frontier was California, where he would go on to appear in more than 50 films. His acting career was halted abruptly in 1933, allegedly because he refused to leave his partner, British footballer Jimmy Shields, at the request of his representation at MGM Studios. Whether it was the fact that Haines was one half of Hollywood’s first openly gay marriage or that there were other factors at play, MGM cofounder Louis B. Mayer canceled his contract.

Luckily for Haines, he had nurtured a side career that kept him on Hollywood’s radar: He was a prominent antiques dealer on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. Haines dedicated himself full-time to both dealing and designing furniture as soon as his tenure as a leading man came to an end.

Haines collaborated with the era’s biggest names in architecture and created a desert living room for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco that featured walls made of California Joshua wood and a painting by Georgia O’ Keeffe. He paid close attention to lighting design, employed hand-painted wallpaper and favored featuring Chinese ceramics alongside Chippendale chairs and ottomans for entertaining. His most famous clients included Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Betsy Bloomingdale and more. Crawford played a significant role in kick-starting his career when she commissioned Haines to decorate her entire home in Brentwood.

Haines was such an esteemed tastemaker that he’s among those credited with having cemented Hollywood Regency as a reputable design style. (Its origins are owed to influential interior decorator Dorothy Draper.) While he gravitated toward the look of chinoiserie and English furniture, his signature was low-level seating and giltwood accents. Haines’s interior design style was so in vogue that Nancy Reagan became one of his biggest fans and eventually enlisted Ted Graber, Haines’s successor following his death in 1973, to decorate several private and public rooms in the White House.

Find a collection of vintage William Haines lounge chairs, lighting fixtures and other furniture on 1stDibs.