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Pair of Lee Woodard Allegro Mid-Century Modern 1950s Iron and Wood Side Chairs

Name: Pair of Lee Woodard Allegro Mid-Century Modern 1950s Iron and Wood Side Chairs
Brand: Woodard Furniture Co.
Availability: InStock

About the Item

A pair of Mid-Century Modern, circa early 1950s Allegro chairs by Lee Woodard. This pair of sturdy wood and iron chairs is supremely comfortable and exhibits all of the hallmarks of great mid century design. For a bit of history on Lee Woodard and the Woodard Furniture Company, I highly recommend visiting the Woodard Furniture Company website. From this website, I offer, "The second and third generations of the family, Lee Woodard and his sons, start Woodard and Sons, a company that produces metal furniture using proprietary designs Lee creates. As a designer Lee drew national recognition for his work and he pioneered the IDEA of using wrought iron in outdoor furniture. It was Lee and Sadie’s three sons, Joseph, Russell and Lyman II, who were responsible for making their furniture lines nationally and then internationally known." You may be thinking, 'Are you sure these aren't Paul McCobb?' Yes, I'm sure and to give you more backstory here's a snippet from the Paul McCobb Blogspot website, "The very McCobb like Lee L Woodard Sons Allegro group of wrought iron and white Ash was introduced at the Fourth Annual Summer Furniture Market at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago on October 22, 1951 and was in stores in early 1952. The group was a success and was sold throughout the 50s. It was not designed by Paul McCobb." This pair of chairs comes to you directly from a beautiful New York City apartment and exhibits a life well lived. The chairs are oh so slightly different in terms of size because each is constructed by hand and each is over 70 years old. We can all hope to look this good and be so sturdy and have such classic design when we are septuagenarians.

Creator:

Woodard Furniture Co. (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 31.5 in (80.01 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Depth: 21.5 in (54.61 cm)Seat Height: 17.75 in (45.09 cm)

Sold As:

Set of 2

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Iron,Metal,Wood

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

Mid-20th Century

Date of Manufacture:

1950s

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. In good vintage condition with age appropriate wear.

Seller Location:

Atlanta, GA

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU7240233909142

Shop All Woodard Furniture Co.

Woodard Furniture Co.

Woodard Furniture Company’s diverse offerings have included everything from pine caskets to premium patio furnishings over the years.

Lyman E. Woodward founded the family business Woodard Brothers (he dropped the second w for his venture’s name), later Woodard Furniture Co., in Owosso, Michigan, in 1866. Woodard Furniture produced wood furniture such as birch and oak bedroom pieces, window and door blinds and even pine caskets. Demand for the latter increased during the spread of the Spanish flu in America, and Woodard’s casket business — a new company called Owosso Casket Company — thrived, becoming the largest casket manufacturer in the world throughout the 1920s. Two U.S. presidents, William McKinley and Benjamin Harrison, were buried in Owosso caskets.

On the furniture side, Lyman’s son Lee Woodard spun off his own business as Lee L. Woodard and Sons, opening a shop with his sons, Joseph, Lyman II and Russell. During the 1930s, the new company explored the use of metal in furniture-making and introduced a wrought-iron set of patio dining furniture featuring ornate grillwork inspired by French design called Orleans in 1940. The line became a best seller and kick-started the company’s international reputation as a patio-furniture maker, even as the Woodard factory subsequently shifted toward supporting the wartime efforts in manufacturing parts for trucks and military equipment. After World War II, the business returned to making furniture.

Over the years, Woodard and Sons would go on to master metallurgy in furniture making, developing expertise in wrought iron, cast aluminum and tubular aluminum for both indoor and outdoor pieces. While the business started with more traditional styles of furnishings, the company would go on to embrace mid-century modernism. In fact, one of Woodard’s most famous pieces is 1956’s Sculptura chair, variously credited over the years to Russell and/or Joseph. The Sculptura was reportedly the first sculpted chair made without molds. Not unlike Harry Bertoia’s elegant steel-wire Side chair (also a mid-century darling) in its undulating form, the Sculptura chair, which is composed entirely of enameled woven wrought-iron wire, bears similarity to Eero Saarinen’s Womb chair and Charles and Ray Eames’s DAX chair. The beloved Woodard chair was added to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum’s permanent collection in 1994.

While the Woodard business is no longer in family hands, the company continues to produce fine patio furniture today and even reintroduced the Sculptura chair in 2015 as nostalgia for mid-century modernism gained steam again.

At 1stDibs, find Woodard Furniture’s wrought-iron patio chairs, spun fiberglass dining tables and more.