Heywood-Wakefield Swivel Lounge Chair with Ottoman
View Similar Items
Heywood-Wakefield Swivel Lounge Chair with Ottoman
About the Item
- Creator:Heywood-Wakefield Co. (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 30 in (76.2 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Small scratches to wood on top of back of chair.
- Seller Location:Fair Oaks, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU232135793593
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.
- MCM Heywood Wakefield Style Walnut Swivel Rocking Lounge Chair & OttomanBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Chicago, ILMid-Century Modern Heywood Wakefield Style Walnut Swivel Rocking Lounge Chair & Ottoman Newly Upholstered in "Black-Beauty" Button Tufted Italian Leather and Cowhide Classic Mid-...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsCowhide, Leather, Walnut
- Mid Century Club Chair Att. to Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in New York, NYExtra clean mid century lounge chair attributed to Heywood Wakefield. This example is well constructed, well designed and in. exceptional, ready to use condition. Measures: Total ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- Heywood Wakefield “Sculptura” Swivel Pouf OttomanLocated in Indianapolis, INA Sculptura pouf stool or ottoman produced by Heywood Wakefield. This vintage piece is in Heywood Wakefield's "Champagne" finish and features a swivel seat upholstered in a colorful ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch
- Mid-Century Modern Heywood Wakefield OttomanBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Clarksboro, NJThis listing is for a Mid-Century Modern Heywood Wakefield Ottoman. Featuring a curved rectangular top, champagne wood legs, and new upholste...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWood, Upholstery
- Rare and Exceptional Pair of Carl Otto Metronome Lounge Chairs for Heywood WakefBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Bridgeport, CTRare ‘Metronome’ chair designed by Carl Otto for Heywood Wakefield’s ‘Contessa’ line, circa 1959. With original enameled metal legs. Futuristic pair of Armless Wing Form Lounge chair...Category
Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Heywood Wakefield Swivel Foot Stool, USA 1960sBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Miami, FLwhimsical swivel foot stool by Heywood Wakefield--1960s USACategory
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Footstools
MaterialsMaple