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Virginia furniture isfurniture that originates from the U.S. state ofVirginia. Furniture was first produced in Virginia during theColonial period and continued through theIndustrial Revolution. Furniture production has decreased in recent times due to imported furniture, but Virginia is still home to a few large furniture companies.
In colonial Virginia, there were at least six furniture makers.[1]Anthony Hay made furniture inColonial Williamsburg. As the colony grew, other furniture makers developed inNorfolk,Fredericksburg,Alexandria andPetersburg.[2] In Fredericksburg alone, more than a dozenmanufacturers madeEuropean-style furniture in facilities owned by cabinetmakers such as Robert and Alexander Walker, James Allen and Thomas Miller. Many of these early cabinetmakers also worked at housejoinery.[3]
Scholars and Virginia historians have come to understand that in early colonial andFederal years, Virginia had a more vibrant furniture industry than first realized.[4] Styles includedChippendale,Queen Anne andvernacular styles. As Virginia citizensemigrated west, Virginia stylists and furniture makers took their patterns and styles with them.[5] Not all the styles mimicked theBritish; emigrants like theGerman Johannes Spitler brought their native painting andfolkdecorative styles to theShenandoah Valley.[6]
Some companies from the early 19th century survived. In 1830, E. A. Clore was founded; it is now one of the oldest companies in the United States and still makes furniture at itsMadison County location.
In the 19th century, a typical small town likeWaterford, Virginia, had a number ofmanufacturers; in Waterford's case, makers like John Mount, William T. Mount, and Lewis N. Hough.[7]
By the 20th century, the activities of groups like theAssociation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, led to a renewed interest in colonial styles. Companies likeBiggs Furniture grew from a smallantiques shop inRichmond into a majorreproductions manufacturer that came close to rivalingEthan Allen.[citation needed] With the establishment of Colonial Williamsburg in the 1930s, the interest in colonial reproductions grew, though reproductions of the Williamsburg collection were made by theKittinger Company ofNew York.
Through the 20th century,mass-marketedfurniture prevailed, and companies likeStanley Furniture,Pulaski Furniture,Rowe Furniture andBassett Furniture grew into nationalbrands. They grew around the area ofMartinsville, where they sometimes formedcompany towns. The height of this movement came whenThomas Bahnson Stanley, founder ofStanley Furniture, becameGovernor of Virginia in 1954. Many of these companies now show theirwares inHigh Point, North Carolina, theAmerican city most synonymous with furniture, located just south of Martinsville.
Imports gained strength through the 1990s and early 21st century, and once-dominant Virginia companies have struggled to compete withimports.[8] While not a descriptive adjective like Williamsburg, a Virginia style of decorating has permeated the world ofinterior design.[citation needed] Virginianatives likeNancy Lancaster,William Haines,Charlotte Moss andBunny Williams have had influential roles in interior design using neo-traditional and modern approaches.[citation needed]
In recent years as imports have gained strength, companies likeKingsley Bate andFlexa have located manufacturing and/or distribution facilities in Virginia because of the state's easy access ports inHampton Roads. In 2008,Swedwood Danville, a subsidiary ofIKEA, opened a North American manufacturing plant in Cane Creek Center nearDanville, Virginia, which employs 335 workers.[9]