Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern Birch Highboy Dresser by Heywood Wakefield
View Similar Items
Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern Birch Highboy Dresser by Heywood Wakefield
About the Item
- Creator:Heywood-Wakefield Co. (Manufacturer, Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 44 in (111.76 cm)Width: 38 in (96.52 cm)Depth: 19.75 in (50.17 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c.1950’s
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3014338450682
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.
- Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern Walnut Highboy DresserLocated in Los Angeles, CAWith over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration, showcasing our passion and creativity for vintage designs that can seamlessly be incorpo...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut
- Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern Walnut Highboy DresserBy American of MartinsvilleLocated in Los Angeles, CAWith over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration, showcasing our passion and creativity for vintage designs that can seamlessly be incorpo...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut
- Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern “Todays Living” Highboy DresserBy Milo Baughman, DrexelLocated in Los Angeles, CAWith over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration, showcasing our passion and creativity for vintage designs that can seamlessly be incorpo...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsElm
- Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern “Amerasia” Style Highboy DresserBy Kent-CoffeyLocated in Los Angeles, CAWith over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration, showcasing our passion and creativity for vintage designs that can seamlessly be incorpo...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsElm
- Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern Walnut Highboy Dresser by Merton GershunBy American of Martinsville, Merton GershunLocated in Los Angeles, CAWith over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration, showcasing our passion and creativity for vintage designs that can seamlessly be incorpo...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBrass
- Newly Refinished - Mid-Century Modern Walnut 9-Drawer DresserBy American of MartinsvilleLocated in Los Angeles, CAWith over 15 years of experience, our workshop has followed a careful process of restoration, showcasing our passion and creativity for vintage designs that can seamlessly be incorpo...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut
- 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
- Mid Century Modern 8 Drawer Lowboy Dresser Styled After Heywood WakefieldBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Freehold, NJThis mid century modern lowboy dresser in the style of Heywood Wakefield features solid maple construction, original champagne finish, eight drawers with carved wood pulls, and uniqu...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMaple
- 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 Heywood Wakefield Dresser & Mirror in Wheat, Circa 1950By Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Big Flats, NYMid Century Modern Heywood Wakefield Dresser & Mirror offers Birch Construction in Wheat Finish with Three Long Drawers, Circa 1950 Measures- 62.75''H x 45.75''W x 19.25''DCategory
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMirror, Birch
$1,320 Sale Price20% Off - Edmond Spence Mid Century Birch Highboy DresserBy Edmond J. SpenceLocated in Countryside, ILEdmond Spence Mid Century Birch Highboy Dresser This highboy measures: 38.5 wide x 20.25 deep x 47.5 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call restored vintage...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBirch
- Heywood-Wakefield "Kohinoor" Sculpted Extra-Wide 6-Drawer DresserBy Heywood-Wakefield Co.Located in Van Nuys, CAHeywood-Wakefield "Kohinoor" 6 -drawer dresser with extra-wide drawers, sculpted front, and tapered legs all finished in the "Encore Yellow" Birch.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsBirch
$3,220 Sale Price8% Off