Dania
A modern line designed by Gershun: walnut dressers, credenzas and bars with large drawers, louvered or slatted drawer fronts and brass accents. Dealers date Dania pieces to the 1950s and 1960s.[1]–[3][17]
American of Martinsville
American of Martinsville, founded in 1906 as the American Furniture Company of Martinsville, Virginia, made bedroom, dining and living room furniture in styles from walnut modern to Mediterranean and chinoiserie. It stopped most of its home furniture in 1993 and has since concentrated on furniture for hotels and healthcare.
The timeline
- 1906
- Martinsville, Virginia
- 3 pieces
- 1906
Ancil Witten and Charles Keesee, Martinsville tobacco men, found the American Furniture Company with other local businessmen and $30,000 in capital. It makes bedroom furniture only at first.[1]–[3]
- 1920s
- 1964
Trading as American of Martinsville, the company issues brochures for the walnut Dania II collection and the Format group, the latter credited to designer Merton L. Gershun. Copies were stamped as received by the US Patent Office's design division in April 1964.[7][8]
- 1968–1971
Company brochures show a turn to period revival: Spanish and Mediterranean groups such as Castile, Valiente, Pasado and Mediterranean Classics, the Italian-inspired Riccardi and San Remo, and vinyl-clad youth bedroom lines such as Hombre and Pizzazz.[9]–[16]
- 1980s
The company becomes part of LADD Furniture; a company history of LADD dates the purchase to 1986.[4][5]
- 1993
LADD discontinues most of American of Martinsville's residential case goods, moving the profitable lines to its American Drew division, and concentrates American of Martinsville's contract business, mainly hotel and motel guest-room furniture, in Martinsville.[4]–[6]
- 2000
La-Z-Boy acquires LADD in January 2000, bringing American of Martinsville into its contract furniture business.[3][18]
Available now
(00)Nothing by American of Martinsville is in the studio right now. Tell Kate what you need and she will look for one.
What they made
The company began with bedroom furniture and added dining room furniture in the 1920s; by the 1960s its brochures covered bedroom, dining and living room pieces, occasional tables and upholstery. Its mid-century modern work was mostly walnut. The 1964 Dania II brochure describes walnut in a low-sheen lacquer finish with carved walnut drawer bars, natural cane and small rosewood insets, and pitches the collection on storage, from long dressers to wall units with space for a television, desk or bar. The same year's Format group, by Merton L. Gershun, set lighter veneer trim against medium-dark walnut.
The company also worked well beyond modern. Dealers know it for Hollywood Regency and chinoiserie pieces, including bleached or lacquered cases on ebonized bases, and its brochures from 1968 to 1971 show carved Spanish and Mediterranean groups in oak and pecan, Italian-inspired groups in knotty cherry, and children's bedroom furniture covered in a stain-resistant vinyl veneer.
The brochures pitch most of these groups at moderate or modest prices. Materials were usually a mix of veneers and solid wood rather than all solid wood.[2][3][7]–[17]
Lines and collections
(09)Dania II
A later walnut collection for bedroom, dining and living room, finished in matte lacquer, with carved walnut bars for drawer pulls, cane door and headboard panels, rosewood insets on tables, and tall component wall units. Pieces are numbered in a 3100 series.[7]
Format
A budget-priced walnut bedroom and dining group with angular door panels, rounded legs and contrasting light Fineline veneer trim, numbered in an 8210 series.[8]
Harlequin
Walnut bedroom and dining furniture with sculpted, diamond-patterned drawer fronts, including highboys and triple dressers; period advertising called it sculptured and budget-priced.[2][3][17]
Castile
Spanish-style occasional tables, commodes and an etagere in pecan veneers and oak solids, with moulded imitation carving and old-world hardware.[9]
Valiente
Mediterranean bedroom, dining and occasional furniture in oak veneers and solids, with deeply carved Moorish-style panels, thick shaped tops, overlay mouldings, turned spindles and grille-work headboards.[10]
Hombre and Pizzazz
Youth bedroom lines covered in 3M Tartan-Clad vinyl veneer: Hombre for boys in an oak-look finish with black melamine tops, Pizzazz for girls in white with brass hardware and lime-green accents.[11][12]
Riccardi and San Remo
Italian-inspired groups in knotty cherry veneers: Riccardi occasional tables with inlay-look tops and beaded mouldings, and the San Remo dining room with fluting and brass hardware on pecan solids.[13][14]
Pasado
A low-priced Spanish-style bedroom group in oak veneers and solids with heavy bases, large mouldings and carved door panels.[15]
From the archive
(03)
Mid Century Modern American of Martinsville Walnut End Tables – Pair
Tables (F.52)Sold
Mid Century Modern Brutalist Dresser Set
Dressers (F.178)Sold
MCM American of Martinsville Nightstand / End Table
Nightstands (F.182)Sold
What they’ve sold for
$240 to $895
About American of Martinsville
American of Martinsville began in 1906 as the American Furniture Company of Martinsville, Virginia. Its founders, Ancil Witten and Charles Keesee, came from the local tobacco business and raised $30,000 in starting capital with other Martinsville businessmen. The company made bedroom furniture at first and added dining room furniture in the 1920s. It later traded as American of Martinsville, and its range ran from modern designs to traditional and Asian-inspired styles. Merton Gershun designed for the company, including the Dania line. In the 1980s it became part of LADD Furniture. In the early 1990s LADD dropped much of the company's residential furniture, and the business concentrated on guest-room furniture for hotels and motels, later adding furniture for healthcare settings.[1]–[6]
Designers
(01)Common questions
Is American of Martinsville furniture solid wood?
Not usually all solid wood. The company's own brochures describe veneers over solid wood: walnut with veneer trim in 1964, oak veneers and solids or pecan veneers with oak solids in the Spanish and Mediterranean groups, and knotty cherry veneers in the Italian groups. Some 1969 youth furniture was covered in vinyl veneer.[8]–[11][13]
How do I identify American of Martinsville furniture?
Look inside the drawers for a stamp with the company name and an eagle, then check the bottom of the case or the underside of a seat. Marks can be stamped, burned in or on a paper label. Model numbers in a four-digit group plus piece number format can be matched to the company's brochures.[1]–[3][7]
Who designed for American of Martinsville?
Merton L. Gershun is the designer most often named. The 1964 Format brochure credits him, and dealers attribute the Dania and Harlequin lines to him. Many other pieces carry no designer credit.[2][8][17]
Is American of Martinsville still in business?
Not as a maker of home furniture. LADD Furniture, which owned it, discontinued most of its residential case goods in 1993 and kept its contract business making hotel, motel and healthcare furniture. La-Z-Boy bought LADD in 2000, and the American of Martinsville name has continued in contract furniture.[5][6][18][19]
Is American of Martinsville good quality furniture?
It was mid-market furniture. The 1964 brochures promise moderate or budget prices, and the 1971 Pasado group was built to sell at a modest price. In 1993 its owner placed upholstery sold under the American of Martinsville name in the medium and upper-medium price ranges.[5][7][8][15]
Why do American of Martinsville dressers turn up from hotels?
The company had a contract division that supplied guest-room furniture to hotels and motels, and later to colleges and healthcare settings. Since 1993 that has been its main business, so dressers and nightstands bearing its mark often started life in hotel rooms.[1][5][6]
Looking for one?
Looking for a piece by American of Martinsville? Tell Kate what you need, with the size and budget you have in mind, and she will look for one. Or write to hello@formanashville.com.
New pieces go out first in the weekly letter.
Makers in a similar vein
Sources
- A little more American of Martinsville history (2013), quoting the City of Martinsville's furniture-legacy text, with reader comments, Mad for Mid-Century
- American of Martinsville (maker page), 1stDibs
- American of Martinsville (maker page), Chairish
- LADD Furniture, Inc. (International Directory of Company Histories), Encyclopedia.com
- LADD Furniture, Inc., Form 10-K and annual report for 1993 (filed 1994), US Securities and Exchange Commission
- American of Martinsville plant expansion (26 June 1993), Roanoke Times
- Dania II, American of Martinsville, 1964 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Format, group 8210, American of Martinsville, 1964 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Castile tables, American of Martinsville, 1968 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Valiente, American of Martinsville, 1969 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Hombre, group 2255, American of Martinsville, 1969 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Pizzazz, American of Martinsville, 1969 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Riccardi, group 2692, American of Martinsville, 1971 (brochure), Internet Archive
- San Remo dining room, suite 2470, American of Martinsville, 1971 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Pasado, group 2299, American of Martinsville, 1971 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Mediterranean Classics tables, group 2682, American of Martinsville, 1971 (brochure), Internet Archive
- Merton Gershun (designer page), 1stDibs
- La-Z-Boy Incorporated, Form 8-K on the acquisition of LADD Furniture (January 2000), US Securities and Exchange Commission
- Is American of Martinsville furniture still in business? (February 2021), 1stDibs
Image credits
- Cover of the Dania II brochure, 1964.. American of Martinsville; scan from the Internet Archive. Public domain. Source
- The Format group, designed by Merton L. Gershun, in its 1964 brochure.. American of Martinsville; scan from the Internet Archive. Public domain. Source
- Valiente, one of the company's Mediterranean groups, in a 1969 brochure.. American of Martinsville; scan from the Internet Archive. Public domain. Source
The Weekly Letter
One email a week, on Thursday. What arrived, what sold and for how much, and a line or two on what we are working on.