1950s Milo Baughman for Drexel Blond Floating Top Desk
View Similar Items
1950s Milo Baughman for Drexel Blond Floating Top Desk
About the Item
- Creator:Drexel (Maker),Milo Baughman (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.25 in (74.3 cm)Width: 50 in (127 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1952
- Condition:Desk restored and with original micarta top with minor markings.
- Seller Location:Miami, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU830115166312
Milo Baughman
Milo Baughman was one of the most agile and adept modern American furniture designers of the late 20th century. A prolific lecturer and writer on the benefits of good design — he taught for years at Brigham Young University — Baughman (whose often-scrambled surname is pronounced BAWF-man) focused almost exclusively on residential furnishings, such as chairs, sofas and benches. He had a particular talent for lounge chairs, perhaps the most sociable piece of furniture.
Like his fellow adoptive Californians Charles and Ray Eames, Baughman’s furniture has a relaxed and breezy air. He was famously opposed to ostentatious and idiosyncratic designs that were made to excite attention. While many of his chair designs are enlivened by such effects as tufted upholstery, Baughman tended to let his materials carry the aesthetic weight, most often relying on seating and table frames made of sturdy and sleek flat-bar chromed metal, and chairs, tables and cabinets finished with highly-figured wood veneers.
Like his colleagues Karl Springer and the multifarious Pierre Cardin, Baughman’s designs are emblematic of the 1970s: sleek, sure and scintillating.
As you will see from the furniture presented on 1stDibs, Milo Baughman’s designs for the likes of Drexel Furniture, Glenn of California and — for five decades — Thayer Coggin are ably employed as either the heart of a décor or its focal point.
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.
- Fine 19th Century François Linke Bronze Mounted Bureau a Cylindre Roll Top DeskBy François LinkeLocated in Miami, FLExhibiting the sought after superior fineness of Francois Linke, this late 19th century petit Bureau a Cylindre or roll top desk is a splendid creation. Mahogany with a deep plum col...Category
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBronze
$12,500 Sale Price44% Off - Gerald Thurston Lightolier Style Mid Century Modern Design Desk Lamp 1950sBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Miami, FLA Mid Century Modern Gerald Thurston classic design style for Lightolier Desk Lamp. Actually could be used anywhere with it’s streamline metal tulip base body with a built in cut cr...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Aldo Londi Seta Series for Bitossi Modern Sgraffito Ceramic Vase, Italy, 1950sBy Raymor, Aldo Londi, BitossiLocated in Miami, FLOne of Aldo Londi's midcentury creations, his SETA (Silk) Series of Sgraffito Pottery for Bitossi in fun vibrant orange glaze and gold gilt. A lovely handmade striated vase with band...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic, Pottery
$252 Sale Price22% Off - 1950s Barovier Gold Leaf Infused Blown Glass VesselBy Barovier&TosoLocated in Miami, FLOpulent, elegant Barovier blown glass bling from the 1950s. Beautiful gold leaf is abundant in this piece with gold infused bubbles throughout its pulled form. Spectacular. Measures ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsArt Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
- 1950s Seguso Bubbling Pink Confection Murano Glass BowlBy Archimede SegusoLocated in Miami, FLResembling a sea anemone, this blown glass vessel by Seguso is indeed a delight with its salmon pink color and wealth of interior bubbles. Heavy, thick and wonderfully obese and glob...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsArt Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
- Italian Modern 3 Ernestine Ceramiche Serving Bowls Salerno, Italy, 1950sBy ErnestineLocated in Miami, FLREDUCED FROM $150....Ernestine ceramics bowls are a must for a garden lunch or brunch. The shape of the bowls is superb, with their double outer edge and wide flat shoulder rim terminating in a sharp edge bowl. The decorations are a work of art with fluidity and lovely color palette. The flowers depicted are Morning Glory pattern # 934, Violets #727 and Pansies on the rim with Wild Roses in the center #871. All three are signed Ernestine ITALY...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic, Earthenware, Pottery
- 1950s Drexel "Perspective" Floating Top Desk Style After Milo BaughmanBy Milo Baughman, DrexelLocated in North Hollywood, CAMid century floating top desk design by Milo Baughman for Drexel "Perspective collection" in the United States circa 1950s. This beautiful desk features a lovely green vinyl top with...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsFaux Leather, Wood
- Vintage "Biscayne" Floating Top Walnut Desk by DrexelBy Milo Baughman, DrexelLocated in North Hollywood, CAWonderful vintage “Biscayne” floating top walnut desk by Drexel and manufactured in the United States, circa 1960s. This desk has been built from the highest quality walnut wood and ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsBrass
- Milo Baughman, Rare Desk, Walnut, Brass, USA, 1950sBy Glenn of California, Milo BaughmanLocated in High Point, NCA rare walnut and brass desk designed by Milo Baughman and produced by Glenn of California, USA, 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Milo Baughman Desk for Directional FurnitureBy Milo BaughmanLocated in Toledo, OHMilo Baughman desk for Directional Furniture. 48" writing desk with movable drawer base on rollers. Flat black frame with walnut top. Cabinet has file drawer and 2 storage drawers. 4...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- John Van Koert Walnut Leather Top Desk for Drexel, c.1965By John Van Koert, DrexelLocated in Costa Mesa, CAJohn Van Koert Walnut Leather Top Desk for Drexel, c.1965. This piece has been professionally restored.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Vintage Danish Freestanding Teak Desk with Floating Top, 1950s.Located in Asaa, DKVintage Danish Freestanding Teak Desk with Floating Top, 1950s. Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern teak writing desk. Unusual shape where the floating desk top rest on six solid teak p...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsTeak