Kittinger Furniture remains one of the top brands in luxury furniture. While other brands like Bassett Furniture and Ethan Allen Furniture have a large following and great name recognition, Kittinger Furniture has become synonymous with true, American Made Fine Furniture.
- The interior of the center drawer is stamped with Kittinger Furniture makers mark and serial number. Includes original key. This is a large piece located on the first floor of the property.
- This elegant American Mid-Century oval mahogany cocktail table dates to the 1950's, manufactured by Kittinger Furniture in Buffalo, New York. The tray like top has a raised edge, the center of which has been incised with naturalistic windswept thistles, attached to lacquer ebonized faux bamboo legs, joined by X stretcher, retaining original maker's label. Serial number 3. Provenance: From the.
- Kittinger Furniture Co. Plans to ship a sofa and two chairs from its Buffalo plant to Washington, D.C., next week. The destination: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The White House will continue.
- Kittinger wine table Post by jimc » Fri Jul 01, 2005 3:56 pm I have a Kittinger round wine table with the original manufacturers lable on the underside with a serial number '03' on it and a letter 'M' stamped into the wood at the underside.
Indeed, Vintage Kittinger Furniture aligns with the Rolls Royce of Furniture. Of course, Kittinger Furniture value, while fluctuating like any other market, seems to hold steady as a top tier furniture brand. Like many luxury brands, vintage Kittinger Furniture continues to have a host of devoted followers.
Who Makes the Furniture in the White House?
Of course, the highest office in the land requires beautiful and well made furniture. Kittinger, with their many lines of traditional furniture, became the company of choice for most of the furniture reproductions in the prominent rooms of the White House in 1968. President Nixon started commissioning Kittinger Furniture to make the majority of the fine furniture in the White House.
Sideboards, chairs, office furniture and of course the beautiful desk that sits in the Oval Office, are all reproductions made by Kittinger.
Kittinger Furniture Executive Desk
A Kittinger Furniture Executive Desk, more modest of course than the one in the White House, fits the most impressive offices. With Kittinger developing several lines of office furniture in their long history, executive desks certainly became something of their specialty.
While making several different models, we can see that certain elements remain constant in the beautiful executive desk offerings by Kittinger. For one, nearly all have gorgeous tooled leather on the top. Certainly a sign of luxury, the leather can be dyed to suit the owner’s taste and decor.
Secondly, almost all have a very large scale. Of course, an executive desk needs to find prominence in a room. So, most span between 5 and 8 feet in length.
Thirdly, the finest wood, brass hardware and extra details like panels, fluting or special feet finish the executive desks by Kittinger. The gorgeous executive desks by Kittinger really make a statement in a home or office.
Kittinger Secretary Desk
The beautiful Kittinger Secretary Desk certainly also deserves mentioning.. Again, over the 150+ years of the company’s history, Kittinger designed and built some incredible secretary desks.
The Colonial Williamsburg Collection Secretary Desks typically have beautiful inlay on the slant front desk area. Additionally, the interior is fitted with a beautiful inner cabinet. Made up of drawers, shelves and cubbies, these desks look just as pretty opened as they do closed.
Likewise, secretary desks with bookcase tops show superb quality and craftsmanship. Many have glazed glass in the doors, and beautiful details in the carving and shape of the desk.
Quality of Kittinger Furniture
The quality of Kittinger Furniture, from the very start, showed major differences from their competitors. In the early 1900’s, owner Irvine Kittinger is quoted with writing,
“Our business is not primarily to turn furniture into money, but to produce something really worthwhile.”
Of course, prime woods, like Hundoren and Cuban mahogany, solid domestic cherry and even solid oak graced the original pieces of Kittinger Furniture.
Particularly noticeable with a Kittinger coffee table, dining tables and other end tables are the beautiful grain and veneer work. Often, the factories at Kittinger used incredibly beautiful flame mahogany veneers to decorate the tops and sides of these tables.
Kittinger Furniture Price Guide
Additionally, we can witness the quality of Kittinger Furniture in the construction of case furniture, such as breakfronts, dressers and chests. The subtle tooling along the edges, the perfectly functioning drawers, and the matched grains of table tops all show incredible precision and respect for the craftsmanship of furniture.
Biggs Kittinger Furniture
Biggs Furniture, a furniture factory from Richmond, Virginia made beautiful reproduction furniture for many years. Their handiwork got the attention of Kittinger Company, and before too long, Kittinger subsumed the Biggs workshop.
Kittinger used Biggs to produce their “Old Dominion” line of furniture, which comprises the reproduction Colonial pieces specifically tied to the Virginia area. Thus Biggs Kittinger Furniture is another name to look for when shopping for fine vintage furniture.
Cleaning and Caring for Kittinger Furniture
Cleaning and Caring for Kittinger Furniture takes a little bit of know-how and patience. Typically, fine furniture stores suggest waxing your furniture about once a year. But what kind of polish is the right Kittinger Furniture polish?
Certainly, supermarket brands like Pledge should be avoided with Kittinger Furniture. These types of products cause chemical build-up on fine furniture. Often, what seems to be working in the short term, could be wreaking havoc on your furniture investments.
Instead, only use natural paste wax on Kittinger Furniture. The best Kittinger polish is an all natural Carnauba or Beeswax. Of course, these gentle waxes must be used in moderation. Ideally, you should buff carefully but briskly and try to use short circular motions or move along the grain.
Shop Kittinger Furniture
Shopping for a gently used Kittinger Furniture piece? Start here first. Of course, we round up the best priced and most elegant Kittinger Furniture from across the country. We look for incredible condition, great useful Kittinger desks, bedroom furniture and beautiful dining room furniture that you and your family can enjoy for decades to come.
Please enjoy browsing, and let us know your Kittinger Furniture stories!
Kittinger Furniture For Sale
From the White House to Colonial Williamsburg, Kittinger made incredible fine reproduction furniture for over 100 years. This Buffalo, New York company made office furniture, Colonial furniture and other beautiful adaptations for fine homes across the nation. Find beautiful vintage Kittinger Furniture for sale at incredible prices today!
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[wordbay]Kittinger Furniture[/wordbay]
Antique Kittinger Furniture For Sale
Kittinger Furniture History
Family business | |
Industry | Furniture |
---|---|
Founded | 1866 |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Residential and Contract Furniture |
Owner | Raymond Bialkowski, President/CEO |
Number of employees | < 50 |
Website | www.kittingerfurniture.com |
The Kittinger Company is an American maker of traditional colonial reproduction furniture that was founded in 1866. Today Kittinger is known for the high-quality furniture it produces that is featured prominently in the White House.[1]
History[edit]
The Kittinger Company was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1866 as 'Thompson, Colie & Co.' Around 1870 the company began crafting hand-made upholstered furniture and by this time had changed its name to 'Colie & Son' after George and Oliver Colie took control. The furniture business proved so successful for the Colie's that in 1885 they built a factory specifically for the crafting of furniture.[2] Advertising in 1904,[3] Colie and Son illustrated one of their armchairs, that showed they were still making furniture in the free Colonial Revival style for their 'snappy, original styles in Parlor Suites, Odd Chairs, Divans, Easy Chairs etc.' Reproductions more closely based on original American 18th-century pieces of furniture would come to characterize the firm's production under George Colie's son-in-law[4]
In 1913, Irvine J. Kittinger, George Colie's son-in-law, and his brother Ralph purchased the company from the Colie family and changed the company's name to the Kittinger Furniture Company. Under the Kittinger family's control, the company's primary focus was to craft the highest quality furniture possible with Irvine Kittinger saying 'Our business is not primarily to turn furniture into money, but to produce something really worthwhile.' By 1929, the company was grossing $1,000,000 annually.[5] The Kittinger family controlled and remained involved with the company until they sold their interests in 1966.
Between 1966 and 1990, Kittinger Furniture had a total of six owners due to mergers and acquisitions of its corporate owners. In 1995 the company entered bankruptcy after a private owner was sentenced on fraud charges.
A former Kittinger employee purchased the Kittinger name and production rights in 1996. The new company has subsequently been profitable.
Today Kittinger is one of the oldest surviving crafters of fine built-to-order furniture in the United States.
Showrooms and production[edit]
Kittinger Furniture is available through several showrooms across the country. Kittinger's primary showroom is located at its factory and corporate offices. Showrooms in Georgia, New Jersey, New York City and Pennsylvania represent and carry Kittinger. In 2012 Kittinger Furniture opened a showroom in Tokyo, Japan, at the Sala Azabu store.
Every piece of Kittinger Furniture is built-to-order to customers’ specifications and needs in Buffalo, New York, and can be shipped around the world. In recent years Kittinger has become a resource for collectors to create reproductions of hard to find pieces or in different scales that fit their needs.
Special projects[edit]
The White House[edit]
Nixon's Cabinet with Kittinger furniture
A number of Kittinger reproductions can still be found in the West Wing office area of the White House in Washington, D.C. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation interior designers were commissioned by President Richard Nixon in 1970 to redo the interior design of the President's offices. Kittinger Company furniture was used extensively in the redesign since this company was the sole licensee of furniture for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's famous program to produce exact reproductions of 18th century antiques.[6] Included in the redesign was a new conference table and chairs for the cabinet room. President Nixon wrote a personal check to pay for the new cabinet room table custom made by The Kittinger Company and donated it to the White House.
Along with furnishing areas of the White House, the Kittinger Company has also produced furniture for the inaugurations of former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. In 2005, the White House commissioned six chairs from Kittinger for the second inauguration of former President George W. Bush. In 2009, the White House commissioned an additional two chairs and utility table for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.[7] The White House reused the pieces crafted by Kittinger again for the second inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2013.[1]
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation[edit]
In 1937 the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation selected the Kittinger Company as the exclusive licensed reproducer of furniture at Colonial Williamsburg[8] Kittinger reproductions were sold through the Williamsburg Reproductions program, the Craft House, established that year.[9] Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg could see Kittinger cabinetmakers in period costume at work in the workshop established in the Ayscough house.[10] Williamsburg reproductions came with a bill of sale detailing the history of the original piece and were branded with the Williamsburg stamp. Other reproductions by Kittinger were labeled with a letterpress label in the 18th-century style. Like their rivals Biggs Furniture of Richmond, Virginia, Kittinger served an upper middle class market in search of mostly mahogany, reproduction furniture with dovetailed oak drawer lining, frame-and-panel backs and other mark of quality comparable to the originals, in the Queen Anne, Chippendale and Hepplewhite styles. In 1990 the license expired and was granted to Baker Furniture Company.
Apart from the Williamsburg reproductions other series were marketed under names evoking the colonial period: Richmond hill Collection,[11] Old Dominion Collection[12] and the like.
Historic Newport[edit]
The success of Kittinger reproductions licensed by Colonial Williamsburg Foundation encouraged the Preservation Society of Newport County to license Kittinger to reproduce 18th-century pieces by the Goddard and Townsend families of cabinetmakers and other furniture made in colonial Newport, Rhode Island, in the Society's possession. Paper labels on this series of furniture read 'For the Preservation Society of Newport County'.
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum[edit]
The Kittinger Company was commissioned to produce several of its pieces from the White House including fireside chairs, coffee table, pen book table, telephone table, council table and mahogany chairs with cane backs.[13] These pieces are on display in the replica Oval Office in the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
Kittinger Furniture Serial Numbers List
Government[edit]
In the past, the Kittinger Company has been commissioned to craft furniture for the Capital Building, Supreme Court, and several government officials.[14] Kittinger also reproduced under license furniture for Independence Hall, Philadelphia, and Historic Savannah.[15]
White House Down (film)[edit]
Sony Pictures commissioned Kittinger to make reproductions of its furniture in the White House for its film White House Down, released in 2013. Kittinger crafted several sets of furniture for the production of the film.[13]
References[edit]
- ^ abBuffalo Rising staff (February 3, 2016). 'Kittinger chairs headed for the White House'. Buffalo Rising. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^Design Journal:Kittinger Furniture, Inc.
- ^The American Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer October 15, 1904, p. .
- ^Kittinger Furniture Company: history
- ^Design Journal: Kittinger Furniture, Inc.
- ^'Douglas W. Kenyon Biography'. Hunton and Williams. Archived from the original on 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/162714-Kittinger_Vanguard_help_furnish_White_House.php
- ^Pollard, Garland (2004-03-01). 'Colonial Williamsburg, its history'. brandchannel.com. Interbrand. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^'Archives: Case Pieces'. Americana Furniture and Interiors. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^History of Colonial Williamsburg Kittinger Company reproductions, 1937-1990
- ^Branded 'Richmond Hill Collection by Kittinger' within a cartouche.
- ^In collaboration with Biggs, Richmond, which became a subsidiary of Kittinger.
- ^ abhttp://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/articles/Kittinger-Replicated-Furniture-for-George-W-Bush-Library-204539991.html#sthash.6ASZLzZR.dpbs
- ^http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2009/01/19/daily2.html?page=all
- ^Americana interiors: Kittinger Company
External links[edit]
- Antique Reproduction Furniture Indodeco was established by Con Spiros in 1995 to provide Melbourne with a quality source of antique furniture reproduction and custom furniture design.
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