Four Elegant Heywood Wakefield Modern Dining Chairs
View Similar Items
Four Elegant Heywood Wakefield Modern Dining Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Heywood-Wakefield Co. (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 18 in (45.72 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1948-55
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Miami, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 0711178301105
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.
- Japanese Mid Century Modern Ceramic VaseLocated in Miami, FLMid Century Japanese Ceramic Vase with a lovely modern design on a traditional form. The decoration is of 6 vertival bands on a dark...Category
Vintage 1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic, Pottery
- Large Modern Freeform Blown Murano Glass Vessel, Italy, 1960sBy SegusoLocated in Miami, FLREDUCED FROM $385....Large Mid Century Modern freeform blown murano glass vessel, Italy, 1960s. Probably Seguso, it is an explosive form of glass wings pulled from the center with th...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Garniture
MaterialsBlown Glass
$200 Sale Price48% Off - Italian Modern Ceramic Wall Plaque "Fisherman and His Catch" 1960sLocated in Miami, FLREDUCED FROM $300....Modernist depiction of a Fisherman and His Catch on this 1960s colorful Italian Ceramic Wall plaque. A combination of...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
MaterialsClay
$216 Sale Price28% Off - V. Nason Attributed Modern Aventurine Black Murano Glass Cylindrical Vase, 1970sBy Vincenzo Nason & CieLocated in Miami, FLREDUCED FROM $580....Tall large Murano black glass and aventurine vase attributed to Vincenzo Nason & Cie for their Avventurina Collection. Lovely mode...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsBlown Glass
$395 Sale Price31% Off - Scandinavian Modern Teak & Raffia Candleholders Attrib Laurids Lonborg, DenmarkBy Laurids LonborgLocated in Miami, FLFantastic pair of Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Teak & Raffia 1960s candleholders. Purchased in Sweden in the 1980s. Made of solid turned teak and handle with wrapped raffia. Me...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
MaterialsRaffia, Teak
- Scandinavian Modern Dansk Designs Silverplate Spiral Candleholders by B. VallienBy Bertil Vallien, DanskLocated in Miami, FLCreated by Swedish Designer Bertil Vallien for Dansk Designs in the 1970s a pair of Heavy Silverplate Space Age Modern Spiral Swirl candleholders. Made in Japan holders for 12 long tapered candles, the type that were popular in 50s and 60s are still in use specially in Scandinavia. This pair of candle holders would be an elegant and modern addition to any dinner table or room. Stamped on bottom: DANSK DESIGNS JAPAN...Category
Vintage 1970s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
MaterialsSilver Plate
$195 Sale Price / set22% Off
- Heywood Wakefield Mid Century Tuxedo Dining Chairs, Set of 6By Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Countryside, ILHeywood Wakefield mid century tuxedo dining chairs - Set of 6 Each chair measures: 19 wide x 21 deep x 31.75 high, with a seat height of 18 inches...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Set of Six Spindle Back Dining Chairs by Heywood Wakefield, 1960sBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Rosendahl, DESet of six Mid-Century Modern spindle back chairs manufactured by Heywood Wakefield. Sidechairs are 50 cm wide, arm chairs 58 cm.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsCherry
- Heywood Wakefield Style Mid Century Ladder Back Chairs, PairBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Countryside, ILHeywood Wakefield style mid century ladder back chairs - Pair Each chair measures: 20 wide x 21 deep x 37 inches high, with a seat hei...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Four Art Deco Gilbert Rohde For Heywood Wakefield Dining ChairsBy Gilbert Rohde, Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Pasadena, TXA set of four Art Deco dining chairs designed by Gilbert Rohde and made by Heywood Wakefield. Walnut frames with fabric upholstery. As shown...Category
Vintage 1930s American Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Walnut
- Set of 4 Mid-Century Modern Dining Chairs by Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Los Angeles, CAExpertly Refinished, Newly Reupholstered Materials: Solid Birch Wood, New Tweed Fabric With over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration,...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Birch
- Set of 4 Mid-Century Modern Dining Chairs by Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Freehold, NJThis set of 4 Mid-Century Modern dining chairs by Heywood Wakefield features hardwood construction, original champagne finish, unique bentwood backs, vin...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch