Antique Victorian Eastlake Lewisburg Furniture Oak Dresser Chest of Drawers 46"

Description

Antique 19th century Victorian tallboy / highboy dresser or chest of drawers by Lewishburg Furniture Company. Made of oak featuring mission style paneled sides with five drawers, each featuring brass Eastlake hardware.

For nearly 120 years, the Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Company operated a successfulmanufacturing plant in Lewisburg, PA. The early history of the Lewisburg Chair and FurnitureCompany was overly volatile. Prior to the company’s reorganization in 1933 under the guise of Mr.Robert N. Parker, the Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Company experienced several closings and reopenings. However, though there were several interruptions in production, the company had built astrong enough rapport with customers that demand quickly made the company profitable again andagain. In 1887, the Lewisburg Furniture Company was brought into existence. Mr. Horace Cawley, aresident of Millmont and later Lewisburg, gathered the necessary capital to establish the company inLewisburg Borough. Mr. Cawley had experienced prior industrial success while managing a shippingcontainer plant and sought to venture into the home furniture market. According to accounts, theLewisburg Furniture Company was an instant success. Production came to a standstill when the plantwas ravaged by a fire and this led to a closing of the assembly line.The early achievement of the plant led several local merchants, who saw a future for the plant,to buy stock in the Lewisburg Furniture Company and reopen the factory in 1891. This newmanifestation of the company focused wholly on producing bedroom furniture. With such a constrictedmarket, the company faced an uphill battle and was finally doomed by a failure of management.Little over a year after its reopening, ownership was transferred to Josiah Partridge for the sumof $10,000. Mr. Partridge envisioned a company primarily focused on the production of quality canebottom chairs. With the return of Mr. Cawley as a manager in 1893, the company expanded itsoperation to include the goals of both men and the name “Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Company”came to be.The dual threat production proved to be highly lucrative for the company. Ever increasingproduct demand helped to push manufacturing output to new heights during the first two decades of the20th century. At its peak, the company turned out an average of 5600 chairs per week.Even with high consumer demand, the company was not immune from human error. Thefactory was consumed by flames from within in 1904 and again in 1911. Poor financial managementled to the reorganization of the company following a brief closure in 1921. The company’s resiliencewas put to the ultimate test following the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression.The early history of the Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Company came to a close when it succumbedto market forces and shut its doors on December 11, 1931.No matter how frequent the stoppage of production, the periods of high profitability led to thecompany’s redemption. By 1933, the modern era of the Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Company cameto pass. Under the direction of Mr. Robert Parker and later his son Mr. T. Gregory Parker, the company became a household name with national brand recognition. In 1933, it adopted the Pennsylvania House name. Later the company was bought by Ladd Furniture Inc. of North Carolina in 1989, then passed to industry giant La-Z-Boy Inc. of Michigan a decade later.

Condition

Good antique condition, wear and distressing commensurate with age and use

Dimensions

32.5"L x 19"W x 46"H