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 The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

History

The Kittinger Company was founded in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, in 1866 as "Thompson, Colie & Co." Around 1870 the company began crafting hand-made

upholstered furniture Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

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. Advertising in 1904, 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 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. 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 Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Showrooms and production

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 Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

represent and carry Kittinger. In 2012 Kittinger Furniture opened a showroom in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, at the Sala Azabu store. Every piece of Kittinger Furniture is built-to-order to customers’ specifications and needs in

, 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

The White House

A number of Kittinger reproductions can still be found in the West Wing office area of the

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Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

ers were commissioned by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

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. 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 George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. 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. The White House reused the pieces crafted by Kittinger again for the second inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2013.

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

In 1937 the

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location and ...

Foundation selected the Kittinger Company as the exclusive licensed reproducer of furniture at

Kittinger reproductions were sold through the Williamsburg Reproductions program, the Craft House, established that year. Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg could see Kittinger

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...

s in period costume at work in the workshop established in the Ayscough house. 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

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, Kittinger served an upper middle class market in search of mostly

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

, 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 George Hepplewhite (1727? – 21 June 1786) was a cabinetmaker. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale. There are no pieces of furnit ...

styles. In 1990 the license expired and was granted to

Baker Furniture Company A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Si ...

. Apart from the Williamsburg reproductions other series were marketed under names evoking the colonial period: Richmond hill Collection, Old Dominion Collection and the like.

Historic Newport

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 The Goddard and Townsend families of Newport lend their name to an extensive body of New England furniture associated with Newport, Rhode Island in the second half of the 18th century. Family of artisans The Townsend and Goddard families were t ...

families of cabinetmakers and other furniture made in colonial

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, 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

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. These pieces are on display in the replica

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

in the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Government

In the past, the Kittinger Company has been commissioned to craft furniture for the Capital Building, Supreme Court, and several government officials. Kittinger also reproduced under license furniture for Independence Hall, Philadelphia, and Historic Savannah.Americana interiors: Kittinger Company
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''White House Down'' (film)

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

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.

References

External links

Company site

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. {{Authority control Furniture companies of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Buffalo, New York