Kindel Furniture
Kindel has always focused on traditionally designed furniture executed by the renowned woodworkers of Grand Rapids at the highest level of skill. It wasn't until 1982 that Kindel became a maker of authentic reproductions when we were awarded the exclusive license to reproduce furniture from the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum which houses the most important collection of American decorative arts ever assembled. When the election of Kindel was first announced, the then Director of The Winterthur Museum, Dr. James Morton Smith, had this to say: "The selection of the Kindel Company is the culmination of an extensive search to find the manufacturer most qualified to reproduce the treasures of Winterthur. Their emphasis, like that of first-rate 18th-century artisans, will be on quality, craftsmanship, and authenticity."
As a result of our work on behalf of Winterthur, Kindel has since been awarded the exclusive license to reproduce furniture for The Irish Georgian Society, and most recently, Varney & Sons. Although Kindel has been known since 1901 for superb quality, it took nearly two years to bring the reproductions to market. In order to achieve the level of authenticity required by Winterthur and its treasures, Kindel had to recreate the lost art of hand carving. The high level of articulation in the carving of the original objects demanded that they be reproduced by hand. No machines in the world can accurately copy the kind of detail work found in the treasures of the best 18th-century American furniture. Kindel rose to the occasion. In England, we found a very talented master carver who joined us in 1980 and began an apprenticeship program for hand carvers that has been an outstanding success. Today, Kindel employs eighteen hand carvers, the largest operation of its kind, to execute the detail on not only the reproductions, but the entire Kindel line.
he Kindel mission is: "The reproduction of the treasures of our past at the highest levels of quality, authenticity, and scholarship." Our position has never wavered, nor will it. Every Kindel reproduction is crafted in conformity with the standard for reproduction agreed to by Winterthur in 1979 which simply states that: "A reproduction is a line-for-line copy of the original object using the same primary and secondary materials." If an object does not do that, it is not a reproduction. It is either an adaptation or something else. This standard for a reproduction allows a variation of 1/32 of an inch regarding the "line-for-line" part of the standard. This is because wood, being alive, is constantly changing with temperature variations. Regarding the "same primary and secondary" part of the definition, there is little or no flexibility. Kindel must use woods that are of the period such as primary materials of mahogany, maple, and cherry, and secondary materials of poplar and sycamore. All Kindel objects are made with the finest veneers and solids for exteriors, solid poplar for core material, and sycamore on the drawer sides.
To learn more about Kindel Furniture visit their website at www.Kindelfurniture.com.