Drexel Heritage Chinoiserie Decorated & Gilt Commode, Genre Scenes, 20th C
View Similar Items
Drexel Heritage Chinoiserie Decorated & Gilt Commode, Genre Scenes, 20th C
About the Item
- Creator:Drexel (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 32.25 in (81.92 cm)Width: 40.5 in (102.87 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Chinoiserie (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Overall very good condition, tight and sturdy with corner scuff and wear as photographed.
- Seller Location:Big Flats, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 745641stDibs: LU2396331141902
Drexel
While vintage Drexel Furniture dining tables, dressers and other pieces remain highly desirable for enthusiasts of mid-century modern design, the manufacturer's story actually begins decades before its celebrated postwar-era Declaration line took shape.
In 1903, in the small town of Drexel in the foothills of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, six partners came together to found a company that would become one of the country’s leading furniture producers. The first offerings from Drexel Furniture were simple: a bed, washstand and bureau all crafted from native oakwood, sold as a bedroom suite for $14.50.
One of Drexel’s early innovations was to employ staff designers, something the company initiated in the 1930s. This focus on design, which few other furniture companies were committing to at the time, allowed Drexel to respond to a variety of new and traditional tastes. This included making pieces inspired by historic European furniture, like the popular French Provincial–style Touraine bedroom and dining group that borrowed its curves from Louis XV-era furniture. Others replicated the ornate details of 18th-century chinoiserie or the embellishments of Queen Anne furniture. Always ready to adapt to new customer demands, during World War II, Drexel built a sturdy desk designed especially for General Douglas MacArthur.
In the postwar era, Drexel embraced the clean lines of mid-century modernism with the Declaration collection designed by Stewart MacDougall and Kipp Stewart that featured elegant credenzas and more made in walnut, and the Profile and Projection collections designed with sculptural shapes by John Van Koert. In the 1970s, Drexel introduced high-end furniture in a Mediterranean style.
Drexel changed hands and visions throughout the years. It was managed by one of the original partners — Samuel Huffman — until 1935, at which time his son Robert O. Huffman took over as president. It was then that the company began to expand, with several acquisitions of competitors in the 1950s, including Table Rock Furniture, the Heritage Furniture Co. and more.
With the manufacturer’s success — spurred by its embrace of advertising in home and garden magazines — it opened more factories in both North and South Carolina. By 1957, the company that had started with a factory of 50 workers had 2,300 employees and was selling its furniture nationwide.
Drexel underwent a series of name changes in its long history. Its acquisition of Southern Desk Company in 1960 bolstered its production of institutional furniture for dormitories, classrooms, churches and laboratories.
In the following decades, contracts with government agencies, hotels, schools and hospitals brought its high-quality furniture to a global audience. U.S. Plywood-Champion Papers bought Drexel Enterprises in 1968, and it became Drexel Heritage Furnishings.
In 2014, the last Drexel Heritage plant, in Morganton, North Carolina, reportedly closed its doors. The company rebranded as Drexel in 2017.
The vintage Drexel furniture for sale on 1stDibs includes end tables designed by Edward Wormley, walnut side tables designed by Kipp Stewart and lots more.
- Drexel Heritage Mahogany And Ebonized Chinoiserie Decorated Sofa Table C1950By DrexelLocated in Big Flats, NY***Ask About Reduced In-House Delivery Rates - Reliable Professional Service & Fully Insured*** Drexel Heritage Mahogany and Ebonized Sofa Table with Gilt Chinoiserie Decoration Rais...Category
Mid-20th Century American Chinoiserie Sofa Tables
MaterialsMahogany
$600 Sale Price20% Off - Drexel Heritage Mahogany And Ebonized Chinoiserie Decorated Low Table C1950By DrexelLocated in Big Flats, NY***Ask About Reduced In-House Delivery Rates - Reliable Professional Service & Fully Insured*** Drexel Heritage Mahogany and Ebonized Low Table with Gilt Chinoiserie Decoration Raise...Category
Mid-20th Century Chinoiserie Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMahogany
$760 Sale Price20% Off - Karges Ebonized, Gilt & Chinoiserie Decorated Secretary Desk 20th CenturyBy Karges FurnitureLocated in Big Flats, NYA tall secretary by Karges offers ebonized wood construction with upper having carved shell form crest over single door case having internal bookcase; lower ...Category
20th Century American Chinoiserie Secretaires
MaterialsWood
$3,160 Sale Price20% Off - French Provincial Style Polychrome, Gilt &Marble Commode by Kozak Studios 20th CLocated in Big Flats, NYA vintage French Provincial style commode by Kosak Studios offers shaped and beveled marble top over paint decorated case with single drawer over double lattice door cabinet...Category
20th Century American French Provincial Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsMarble
$1,160 Sale Price20% Off - Chinoiserie Decorated Credenza Cabinet 20th CLocated in Big Flats, NYA Chinoiserie decorated credenza offers double door cabinet opening to pull out drawers, decoration includes landscape, figures and structures, 20th century Measures - 34.25"h x 4...Category
20th Century Cabinets
MaterialsWood
$1,960 Sale Price20% Off - Chinoiserie Enamel Decorated Vermillion Red Wall Mirror 20th CLocated in Big Flats, NYA Chinoiserie decorated wall mirror offers shaped form with Vermillion red frame having hand enameled foliate and lattice elements encasing a beveled mi...Category
20th Century Chinoiserie Wall Mirrors
MaterialsEnamel
$960 Sale Price20% Off
- Early 20th C. Venetian Hand-Painted and Decorated Partial Gilt Commode w/ GlassLocated in Germantown, MDAbsolutely gorgeous Louis XV style Venetian Four Sided Hand-Painted and Decorated Partial Gilt Commode with protective Glass Top. Each of the four side painting depicts a different ...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Louis XV Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsHardwood, Paint
- 1970s Drexel Heritage Chinoiserie Armoire DresserBy DrexelLocated in Chicago, ILAn exceptional Hollywood Regency Chinoiserie Campaign style armoire dresser from the Dynasty Collection by Drexel Heritage. The dresser features gorge...Category
Vintage 1970s American Chinoiserie Dressers
MaterialsWood
$4,000 Sale Price20% Off - 1970s Vintage Drexel Heritage Chinoiserie CredenzaBy DrexelLocated in Hartville, OHFabulous vintage hand painted Chinoiserie Credenza from Drexel Heritage. This is a rare one. Not often do you find the interior doors that have been hand painted as well. It’s also ...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Chinoiserie Buffets
MaterialsLacquer
- Drexel Heritage Georgian Mahogany Chest on Chest Highboy DresserBy DrexelLocated in South Bend, INA gorgeous Georgian or Chippendale style eight-drawer chest on chest highboy dresser By Drexel Heritage USA, Circa 1980s Mahogany, with...Category
Late 20th Century American Georgian Dressers
MaterialsBrass
- John Widdicomb Chinoiserie Paint Decorated Commode Buffet with Gilded DetailsBy John WiddicombLocated in Swedesboro, NJFor customers that require professional insured delivery we are proud to have teamed up with a nationwide professional delivery company that will assist with coordinating your delive...Category
2010s American Chinoiserie Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsMahogany
- Y A Pair of Polychrome Decorated Satinwood Demi-Lune Commodes, 20th CenturyLocated in Lincoln, GBY A PAIR OF POLYCHROME DECORATED SATINWOOD DEMI-LUNE COMMODES20TH CENTURY, IN THE GEORGE III STYLEEach with flower swagged top above a frieze drawer painted with a classical urn and ...Category
20th Century Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsSatinwood
$16,993 Sale Price30% Off