History The John Widdicomb Company is steeped in history and tradition. It is breathtaking in its beauty, solid in its foundation and legendary in its enduring legacy. It begins in 1845 in Devonshire, England, meanders through Syracuse, New York, settles in Grand Rapids, Michigan and in 2000 returns to its first American home in Syracuse, New York.
John Widdicomb
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When in 1845 George Widdicomb left Devonshire, England he set up a cabinet shop in Syracuse NY where his fourth son, John Widdicomb was born. The family lived and worked in Syracuse and the Central NY area until 1857 when they slowly moved westward, settling in Grand Rapids, Michigan. George gathered together twelve craftsmen and set up a small cabinet shop which prospered from the start. His English training was different from the frontier training of the average small town cabinetmaker and his well made furniture found a ready market. The name of that company was George Widdicomb and Sons. The outbreak of the Civil War put a sudden end to the new enterprise, when the entire work force including his four sons joined the Union army. In 1867, with one brother lost in the war, the company reopened as Widdicomb Brothers and Richards. In 1873 the company incorporated as Widdicomb Furniture Company, a manufacturer of inexpensive bedroom furniture. After successfully bringing the company through the turbulent financial crisis of 1893, John left this company to form his own. Meanwhile, the Widdicomb Furniture Company under the leadership of John’s older brother William, continued through the turn of the century making period style San Domingo (Haitian) Mahogany and Tabasco (Mexican) Mahogany
Widdicomb Timeline 1845 – 1857 Furniture maker George Widdicomb emigrates from Devonshire, England and sets up a cabinet shop in Syracuse, N.Y.
wood bedroom furniture. The company introduced its first modern pieces in 1928, and by 1938 had ceased all production of traditional and revival styles. Lines designed in the 1940s and 1950s by T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings and George Nakashima made Widdicomb Furniture Company an important producer of Mid Century Modern furniture. Ralph Widdicombe, a nephew of John, had earlier become interested in the designing of fine furniture, and when his uncle branched out for himself, Ralph joined him. For fifty-three years until his retirement in 1951, all John Widdicomb Company Furniture was designed by Ralph Widdicombe, known as the Dean of furniture designers. Ralph Widdicombe always retained the old English spelling of his name ending with the “e”. Although Ralph Widdicombe will always be remembered best for his classical designs, he was awarded first prize for his Modern bedroom suite at the Paris Exposition in 1900. In 1924, working from models he had procured in Europe, Ralph Widdicombe introduced Louis XV Provincial designs, which were the first of their kind to be made in this country, and started the wave of popularity for French Provincial that still continues.
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George Widdicomb settles in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He sets up a small cabinet shop with his four sons: “George Widdicomb & Sons.”
All four of George’s sons enlist in the Union Army, putting the furniture business on hiatus during the last years of the Civil War.
The Widdicomb boys return from duty in the Union Army to form a new furniture shop. The Widdicomb Furniture Company quickly gains a reputation as one of Grand Rapids’ finest furniture makers.