Heywood Wakefield Dog Bone Dog Biscuit Birch Maple Dining Side Chair, a Pair
View Similar Items
Heywood Wakefield Dog Bone Dog Biscuit Birch Maple Dining Side Chair, a Pair
About the Item
- Creator:Heywood-Wakefield Co. (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Length: 33 in (83.82 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Philadelphia, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: 1650234788841stDibs: LU934125142252
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.
- Vintage Heywood Wakefield Birch Maple Champagne Step End Tables, a PairBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Philadelphia, PAVintage Heywood Wakefield Birch Maple champagne step end tables - a pair . Item features a solid wood construction, beautiful wood grain, origi...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsMaple
- Vintage Mid-Century Modern Spindle Bush Birch Maple Side Chairs, a PairLocated in Philadelphia, PAVintage Mid-Century Modern spindle bush birch maple side chairs - a pair. Item features removable legs, spindle backs, laminated wood construction, clean modernist lines. Circa mid t...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsBirch, Maple
- Vintage Mid-Century Modern Spindle Back Birch Maple Side Chairs 'Single'Located in Philadelphia, PAVintage Mid-Century Modern Spindle Bush Birch Maple side chairs (Single). Item features removable legs, spindle backs, laminated wood construction, clean modernist lines. mid to late...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsBirch, Maple
- Vintage Salterini Umanoff Style Iron Scroll Dining Side Chairs - a PairLocated in Philadelphia, PAVintage Salterini Umanoff Style Iron Scroll Dining Side Chairs - a Pair. Item features wrought Iron frame, scroll design back, great style and form. Circa mid 20th century. Measureme...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsIron
- Antique Heywood Wakefield Woven Wicker Victorian Platform Rocker Rocking ChairBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Philadelphia, PAAntique Heywood Wakefield Woven Wicker Victorian platform rocker rocking chair. Item features carved wood platform rocker base with rolling c...Category
Antique 19th Century North American Victorian Rocking Chairs
MaterialsWicker, Wood
- Pair of 18th C Hand Carved Walnut George II Ladder Back Dining Side ChairsLocated in Philadelphia, PARemarkable pair of hand carved walnut, 18th Century, English Ribbon Back Side Chairs. The chairs feature hand carved and beveled edge rungs, she...Category
Antique Early 18th Century English George II Side Chairs
- Mid Century Modern Heywood Wakefield Side ChairBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Freehold, NJThis mid century modern side chair by Heywood Wakefield features hardwood construction, original champagne finish, vintage upholstery and tall tapered legs. Please check out our oth...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch, Maple
$520 Sale Price20% Off - 1960s Set of 4 Heywood Wakefield Dog bone Dining ChairBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Los Angeles, CACondition note: please be aware one of the arm chairs is missing an armrest, will need to be rebuilt. Vintage Heywood Wakefield Dog bone Dining Chairs...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFaux Leather, 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
$1,060 Sale Price / set20% Off - Set of Four Art Deco Chairs Gilbert Rohde Heywood WakefieldBy Gilbert Rohde, Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Atlanta, GAA set of four chairs designed in 1930s by Gilbert Rohde for Heywood Wakefield Gardener MA. Mahogany construction with arched back support. Cream color naugahyde upholstery with decor...Category
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- 1960s Mid Century Maple Dining Chairs by Heywood Wakefield - Set of 8By Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in North Hollywood, CAMid-century maple dining chairs designed and manufactured by Heywood Wakefield in the United States circa 1960s. These chairs boast a sleek and timeless design, featuring a sturdy ma...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFaux Leather, Maple
- BERNHARDT Caned Burl Maple Contemporary Dining Side Chair - Pair BBy BernhardtLocated in Charlotte, NCA pair of Contemporary style dining side chairs by Bernhardt Furniture. Maple with burl & cane back rest, neutral cream color fabric upholstered seat and straight front legs. Made in...Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Cane, Maple