Heywood-Wakefield "Kohinoor" Sculpted Extra-Wide 6-Drawer Dresser
About the Item
- Creator:Heywood-Wakefield Co. (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 55.5 in (140.97 cm)Depth: 19 in (48.26 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. Refinished.
- Seller Location:Van Nuys, CA
- Reference Number:
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Van Nuys, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Eliel Saarinen Inspired Streamline Moderne 6-Drawer DresserLocated in Van Nuys, CAEliel Saarinen inspired streamline Moderne dresser with a dark stained casing and unique wraparound drawers in a lighter finish. A great exa...Category
Vintage 1940s American Streamlined Moderne Dressers
MaterialsMahogany
- Late Victorian Queen Anne Lowboy Dresser with Sculpted FrontLocated in Van Nuys, CALate Victorian Queen Anne lowboy dresser featuring a sculpted front with 3 oversized drawers.Category
Antique 19th Century American Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood
- Heywood-Wakefield Butterfly Drop-Leaf Wishbone Dining TableBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Van Nuys, CAThis original solid maple "Butterfly" dining table by Heywood-Wakefield circa 1948 features a unique three-leg wishbone base with two center leaves and folding sides. Dimensions: -...Category
Vintage 1940s American Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Heywood Wakefield Blond "Encore" Step Back Cupboard China Cabinet EtagereBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Van Nuys, CAMid-Century Modern era "Encore" china cabinet/step back cupboard by Heywood Wakefield featuring a light blond finish The cabinet has an upper showcase with two sliding glass doors wh...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsBirch
- High Style Mid Century Reading Chair w/ Ottoman by Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Van Nuys, CACirca 1950 modern Heywood Wakefield reading chair with stylished pouf ottoman. The chair featuring a beautiful wood border with nail-back decorative edge and tapered legs. The ottoma...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Restored Mid Century Maple and Faux Rattan Corner Table by Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Van Nuys, CARestored Mid Century Maple corner table by Heywood Wakefield with Faux Rattan single strand legs made of oak and a cut out corner to fit your unique interior needs or to feature Wake...Category
Vintage 1950s End Tables
MaterialsMaple, Oak
- Heywood Wakefield Sculptra Mid Century Wheat 6 Drawer DresserBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Countryside, ILHeywood Wakefield Sculptra Mid Century Wheat 6 Drawer Dresser This lowboy measures: 56 wide x 19.25 deep x 31.25 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call rest...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWood
- Mid-Century Modern Blonde Solid Maple 8 Drawer Dresser by Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in BROOKLYN, NYMid-Century Modern Blonde solid Maple 8 Drawer dresser by HEYWOOD WAKEFIELD. Good Vintage Condition clean inside and out. Drawers slide smooth. Very unique mid century and deco desig...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMaple
- Mid-Century Modern Blonde Solid Maple 6 Drawer Dresser by Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in BROOKLYN, NYMid-Century Modern Blonde solid Maple 6 Drawer dresser by Heywood Wakefield. Good Vintage Condition clean inside and out. Drawers slide smooth. Very unique mid century and deco desig...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMaple
- Burled Maple and Brass HiBoy Dresser after Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Brooklyn, NYExceptional highboy dresser in the unmistakable style of Massachusetts' Heywood Wakefield furniture. A beautiful burled maple veneer elevates the piece to a higher tier of luxury des...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWood, Hardwood, Maple, Burl
- Burled Maple and Brass Long Dresser after Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Brooklyn, NYExceptional lowboy dresser in the unmistakable style of Massachusetts' Heywood Wakefield furniture. A beautiful burled maple veneer elevates the piece to a higher tier of luxury desi...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Sculptura Smaller Dresser Chest by Herrmann / Jiranek for Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Cincinnati, OHA solid maple small scaled single three drawer dresser chest with sculptural ribbon flowing designed drawer fronts . The handles are integrated into the drawers leaving the lines of ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMaple