ModernMates Desk by Leslie Diamond for Conant Ball

While the Conant Ball Company was initially known for its reproductions of period furniture in the Colonial style, the Massachusetts manufacturer eventually garnered national recognition as a leader in the production of solid rock maple dressers, tables and other pieces as well as for its popular modernist collections such as its large Sierra line designed by Colman Zola and its American Modern collection created by Russell Wright. 

In the 1800s, the small town of Gardner, Massachusetts, saw a boom in start-up furniture factories. There was Westminster transplant Nichols and Stone, Standard Chair of Gardner Inc. — a maker of American Craftsman-style furnishings — Heywood-Wakefield, which moved into the manufacture of furniture with steam-bent wood frames and cane or wicker seating, and later, what was once the largest chair in the world was built in the city to attract tourists and to sell …chairs. 

Conant Ball’s first product was its chairs — there were inviting chairs with woven cane seats and the company later earned acclaim for its Windsor designs. But before it got its name in 1909, there was a chair shop called Jackson & Greenwood. Abner and Leander White purchased the modest-sized business and renamed it A. White and Co. John Conant and his brother Charles joined later and it eventually operated under the name Conant Brothers and Co. Later, the firm’s name changed again with the addition of Carlos Ball, who helmed the company’s Boston location. Between Conant’s and Ball’s passings in 1891 and 1909, Charles Brooks and a succession of family members took the company into the 20th century as Conant Ball Co. 

Conant Ball’s comely mid-century modern furniture — its low-profile lounge chairs, sleek tables and more — owe to partnerships with designers such as Leslie Diamond and Russel Wright. 

Diamond and Wright created a variety of solid wood furniture including dining room chairs, side tables and dressers. The former created a line called ModernMates that featured solid birch office chairs, nightstands and dining chairs with curved spindle backs, while Wright, who had created some Art Deco furnishings for Heywood-Wakefield, designed charming, light-colored maple furniture called American Modern for Conant Ball. The name is said to have been given to him by his romantic partner — in 1927, Wright married artist and sculptor Mary Einstein. Under her guidance, Wright's attractive, functional designs for the home gained renown, leading to commissions by prestigious companies like the Steubenville Pottery Company.

Conant Ball’s momentum slowed in 1986 and ownership changed hands once more. By 1990, the firm would no longer produce furniture under its own name. 

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