Makers / HitchcockBy maker1 available, 2 found

Hitchcock

Lambert Hitchcock made stencil-decorated painted chairs in Hitchcocksville, now Riverton, Connecticut, from 1818. The Hitchcock Chair Company revived his designs and his stencilled mark in the same village from 1946 to 2006, adding tables, case pieces and other furniture.

1 available now, 1 in the archive

Pair of dark wood nightstands with stencilled gallery backs, two drawers each and turned legs, on a white backgroundMaple bench with a spindle back, stencilled crest rail, scrolled arms and turned legs, on a white background

The timeline

Founded
1818
Where
Riverton, Connecticut
Through Forma
2 pieces
  1. 1818

    Lambert Hitchcock starts making chair parts at a sawmill in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, where the Farmington and Still rivers meet.[1]–[3][8]

  2. 1825

    He builds a three-storey brick factory in the village, by then called Hitchcocksville.[1]–[3][8]

  3. 1829

    The business goes into receivership.[1][2]

  4. 1832

    Hitchcock takes his brother-in-law Arba Alford into partnership, and chairs are marked Hitchcock, Alford & Co.[1][2][7]

  5. 1844

    Hitchcock leaves the partnership and moves to Unionville, Connecticut.[1][3][8]

  6. 1852

    Lambert Hitchcock dies.[1][2][8]

  7. 1864

    Chair making at the Riverton factory ends.[1][4]

  8. 1946

    John Tarrant Kenney finds the empty factory on a fishing trip and founds the Hitchcock Chair Company to reproduce the chairs.[1][2][8]

  9. 2006

    The Hitchcock Chair Company closes its factories and stores.[1][2][5]

  10. 2010

    Rick Swenson and Gary Hath buy the Hitchcock name, designs and stencils and reopen in Riverton the next year.[1][5][6][8]

Available now

(01)

What they made

Hitchcock made inexpensive 'fancy' chairs for middle-class homes, loosely based on Sheraton and Empire styles. Parts were roughed out by water-powered machines, glued together, then painted black or dark green and decorated by stencilling metallic powders onto the back rails: fruit, flowers, leaves, baskets and cornucopias, with yellow or gold striping on the legs and rails. Seats were rush or cane, and the frames were usually maple and birch. Women did most of the stencilling. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also holds a three-seat settee from the factory.

A painted Hitchcock side chair with a rolled top rail, a stencilled back slat, yellow striping, turned legs and a woven rush seat
Side chair by Lambert Hitchcock, 1826–29, painted wood with a rush seat. De Young Museum, San Francisco.Photo: Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (source)

The revived company of 1946 to 2006 copied the original chairs, mark included, and went on to make a much wider range of furniture, including tables and case pieces. ConnecticutHistory.org reports about 190 factory workers and roughly 80,000 pieces a year by 1967, and a larger factory in New Hartford, Connecticut, from 1976. The New England Historical Society lists its 1950 chair models as slat back, turtle back, crown back, button back, eagle and cornucopia, made of Connecticut rock maple with rush seats.[1]–[3][7][8][10]

A three-section painted settee with stencilled fruit and leaf decoration on the back rails, turned legs and a long rush seat
Settee by Lambert Hitchcock, Hitchcocksville, 1825–30. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0 (Met Open Access) (source)
Watercolour rendering of the back of a Hitchcock chair, showing a gold stencilled basket of fruit and leaves on a black slat between turned posts
Stencilled chair back recorded by Lawrence Flynn for the Index of American Design, 1936.Lawrence Flynn, National Gallery of Art, Washington, CC0 (NGA Open Access) (source)
A long white-painted three-storey mill building with a cupola, a flagpole and a lawn in front, in Riverton, Connecticut
The former Hitchcock chair factory in Riverton, Connecticut, in 2016.Magicpiano, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)

Lines and collections

(01)

Classic

2010s

Woodshop News reported in 2012 that the relaunched Riverton company's best-selling range was Classic: Sheraton-style chairs in black paint over maple with nature-themed stencils. It listed Signature Series (limited editions built to order), Pleasantville (Shaker-style chairs and tables) and Country Heritage (a plainer, informal style) alongside it.[5]

From the archive

(01)

About Hitchcock

Lambert Hitchcock trained under the Litchfield cabinetmaker Silas Cheney. In 1818 he began making chair parts at a sawmill in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, where two rivers meet, and the settlement came to be called Hitchcocksville. In 1825 he built a three-storey brick factory there. Its chairs had stencilled decoration across the back and a stencilled mark reading 'L. Hitchcock. Hitchcocks-ville. Conn. Warranted.' The business failed in 1829 and was reorganised in 1832 with Arba Alford as a partner. Hitchcock died in 1852, chair making at the old factory ended in 1864, and in the 1860s the village was renamed Riverton. In 1946 John Tarrant Kenney, a shoe retailer from the Hartford area, found the empty factory on a fishing trip and revived the company. It reproduced the chairs, mark included, sold its first ones in 1948 and later made other furniture too. The revived company closed in 2006. In 2010 new owners bought the name and designs and reopened in Riverton.[1]–[7]

Common questions

How can you tell if a Hitchcock chair is an antique or a reproduction?

Read the stencilled mark on the back of the seat rail or under the seat. A circled R and backward Ns mean the chair was made by the Hitchcock Chair Company after 1946. Backward Ns alone are not proof of a reproduction, because many Hitchcock, Alford & Co. chairs of the 1830s have them too.[2][6][7]

Where is the mark on a Hitchcock chair?

It is stencilled on the back of the seat rail, the rail below the back of the seat, and on some chairs under the seat. It reads "L. Hitchcock. Hitchcocks-ville. Conn. Warranted." or, from 1832 to 1843, "Hitchcock, Alford & Co."[1][2][6]

What is a Hitchcock chair?

A painted side chair, usually black, with stencilled gilt decoration across the back rails, turned legs and a rush or cane seat, made in a factory from uniform machine-made parts. The name comes from Lambert Hitchcock of Hitchcocksville, Connecticut, but similar unmarked chairs by other makers are also called Hitchcock or Hitchcock-type chairs.[2][3][8]

What wood are Hitchcock chairs made of?

Original chairs were mostly maple and birch, with beech in some, under paint. The New England Historical Society says the revived company used Connecticut rock maple.[1][7][8]

Did Hitchcock make anything besides chairs?

ConnecticutHistory.org says Lambert Hitchcock also made cabinets and tables once his chairs sold, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a settee from his factory. The revived company from 1946 made a full range of furniture, including tables and case pieces, sold under the Hitchcock name.[1]–[3][10]

Is the Hitchcock Chair Company still in business?

The company founded in 1946 closed in 2006. In 2010 Rick Swenson and Gary Hath bought the name, plans and stencils and reopened in Riverton in 2011; the company's website now gives an address in Winsted, Connecticut, and offers restoration of old Hitchcock furniture.[1][5][6][9]

Are old Hitchcock chairs valuable?

LoveToKnow notes that original chairs in good condition are valued and that matched sets are worth considerably more than single chairs. Check the mark first: a circled R means a 20th-century revival chair, not an original.[2][6][7]

Looking for one?

Looking for a piece by Hitchcock? 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.

Find me one

Sourcing: Hitchcock

Makers in a similar vein

Image credits

  • Side chair by Lambert Hitchcock, 1826–29, painted wood with a rush seat. De Young Museum, San Francisco.. Photo: Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons. CC0. Source
  • Settee by Lambert Hitchcock, Hitchcocksville, 1825–30. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. CC0 (Met Open Access). Source
  • Stencilled chair back recorded by Lawrence Flynn for the Index of American Design, 1936.. Lawrence Flynn, National Gallery of Art, Washington. CC0 (NGA Open Access). Source
  • The former Hitchcock chair factory in Riverton, Connecticut, in 2016.. Magicpiano, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source

All other photographs are Forma's own.

Forma is not affiliated with Hitchcock or any maker named on this site. Names describe where a piece came from.

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.