Barney Flagg for Drexel 1962 Parallel Hutch

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About the Item

Barney Flagg for Drexel, Parallel Series. Produced 1962. China Cabinet, hutch and display case with buffet style ledge and storage. Measures 70″ tall, 46″ wide and 17,75″ deep. In amazing original condition, lavish Walnut, tapered edges to frame and drawers, shelves and legs. Features removable shelf in the glass sliding display area and one below. Cutlery drawer. Brass knobs embedded in 2 sliding glass fronts. Near impeccable condition.Creator: Drexel (Manufacturer),Barney Flagg (Designer)Dimensions: Height: 70 in (177.8 cm)Width: 46 in (116.84 cm)Depth: 17.75 in (45.09 cm)Style: Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)Materials and Techniques: WalnutPlace of Origin: United StatesPeriod: 1960-1969Date of Manufacture: 1962Condition: ExcellentWear consistent with age and use. Outstanding.Seller Location: South Charleston, WVReference Number: Seller: Barney Flagg Hutch1stDibs: LU1616240747422Shop All Drexel

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 Carolinas Blue Ridge Mountains, six partners came together to found a company that would become one of the countrys leading furniture producers. The first offerings from Drexel Furniture were simple: a bed, washstand and bureau all crafted from native oak wood, sold as a bedroom suite for $14.50.

One of Drexels 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 Provincialstyle 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 manufacturers 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, 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.