Under the larger style of French Furniture is a subset called French Provincial Furniture. Of course, French Provincial Furniture has many traits of French Country style, but has now come to define a particular type of furniture.
What is French Provincial Furniture?
French Provincial Furniture typically defines an American interpretation of French Country style that was mass produced by major companies in the post WWII era.
Of course, many American furniture brands capitalized on the style craze of French Provincial. And, each furniture company may have interpreted the style in different ways.
However, here are the traits that we see in French Provincial Furniture:
- Made by an American Brand. French Provincial Furniture is not made in France, but is an interpretation of French country style for the American market.
- Features sinuous curves. French Provincial dressers typically have curved or scalloped tops and sometimes curvy drawers. Likewise, table tops have curvy tops and profiles.
- A version of the Cabriole leg. The curved leg often has extra detail, like small divots, extra carvings, or even sometimes added moldings.
- Ornate hardware. Often made of brass, French Provincial Hardware can feature floral or foliage elements or extra flourishes.
- Medium to light wood tones, or Factory Painted finishes. Sometimes French Provincial furniture features gold accents as well.
- Tufted upholstery, Down-cushions and French style fabrics, such as Toile de Jouy, damasks or stripes.
- Marble, brass and other materials were incorporated in upscale brands. However, pressed wood, laminate and faux brass (mixed metals) featured heavily in cheap French Provincial Furniture.
This list encapsulates French Provincial Style. So, you can be sure that you have French Provincial Furniture if your piece hits many of these items on the list!
The French Provincial Mood
Obviously, the goal of a French Provincial interior is to provide a soft, romantic and nostalgic look in the home. With that, the sinuous curves and cabriole legs of this style really soften the edges of a room.
Additionally, like Shabby Chic style, this style tends to lean towards a feminine and delicate look. So, the colors of French Provincial style often echo that of shabby chic. Soft shades of blue, cream, yellow and pink tend to work in these types of interiors.
Recently, softer shades of gray and neutrals have been reintroduced in French Provincial interiors. These colors of the French Provincial interior can look quite subdued and sophisticated, especially compared to the vivid colors of French Country.
Finally, small florals, stripes, and checkered fabrics can all work in this type of interior decorating scheme.
What is French Provincial Furniture made of?
French Provincial Furniture is not all made the same. Higher end Furniture companies, like Drexel Heritage, Century Furniture, Henredon Furniture, Permacraft and Thomasville often made solid wood French Provincial Furniture.
However, more affordable French Provincial furniture can feature pressed wood. Brands like Dixie, Broyhill, Stanley and Bassett Furniture made versions of French style furniture for the mid to lower end market. So, you may find that these brands offered laminates, pressed wood tops and faux brass in their hardware.
Affordable French Provincial Style Furniture
If you do want to create the romantic look of this style, there are options for used French Provincial Furniture in the affordable price point.
As previously mentioned, brands like Dixie Furniture made lots of different models of French Provincial bedroom furniture for the mid market. Often, Dixie French Provincial dressers had pressed wood tops and laminate fronts. Thus, you can get the look of French Provincial without breaking the bank!
The Best French Provincial Vintage Brands
However, if you intend to really purchase quality used furniture in this style, you may wish to seek out the following brands online. These used furniture brands made incredible quality French Provincial style furniture for the higher end markets:
- Drexel Furniture
- Henredon Furniture
- Permacraft Furniture
- Thomasville Furniture
- Ethan Allen Furniture
- Widdicomb Furniture
Drexel French Provincial Furniture
Often cited on this blog, high end maker Drexel Heritage Company offered incredible French Provincial bedroom sets, nice living room sets and accent furniture. Drexel’s Belle Maison line interpreted classic French styles for the american market.
Of course, dove-tailed drawers, prime hardwoods and beautiful finishes set the Drexel vintage furniture apart from other brands.
Henredon Furniture
Without a doubt, Henredon is another great American Furniture brand known for its massive catalog. Of course, their North Carolina plants produced a plethora of French style furniture, including Neoclassical styles, as well.
However, you can find beautiful French Provincial Henredon furniture on the market today. Their “Four Centuries” collection featured outstanding French Provincial buffets, dining room tables and French Provincial china cabinets.
Permacraft Furniture
Unfortunately, Permacraft Furniture is not typically as well known as the other furniture companies on our list. However, Permacraft did French Provincial styles beautifully back in the day.
Their solid cherry dressers often had solid brass hardware, beautiful and durable factory finishes and great construction. Likewise, Permacraft made good quality beds, tables and accent furniture in this style.
Thomasville Furniture
Because Thomasville Furniture reached such a high level of national distribution, used French Provincial furniture by Thomasville is often the most prevalent on online marketplaces. In fact, Thomasville made a ton of French style furniture in the 1970s. So, you can find Thomasville China cabinets, Thomasville dressers and even Thomasville buffets in the French Provincial style pretty easily online.
Ethan Allen French Provincial furniture
Big National brand, Ethan Allen offered thousands of models of French Provincial furniture, all ranging in good to excellent quality.
Of course, you can find Ethan Allen French Provincial bedroom furniture from the 1970s, all the way up until the 1990s. Additionally, you can find beautiful statement pieces, like Ethan Allen secretary desks and curio cabinets in this style.
Typically made of lighter woods like birch and maple, Ethan Allen jumped right into the style with ease in the Mid 20th century.
Widdicomb Furniture
Like Permacraft, Widdicomb is not widely known as a furniture brand. However, this company made excellent quality furniture. Eventually, Widdicomb was bought out by another fabulous furniture brand, Stickley Furniture.
However, before that merger, Widdicomb made super heavy and high quality French Provincial furniture. Undoubtedly, Widdicomb solid cherry furniture was built to last. In fact, it showed incredible quality and had beautiful finishes.
How Much is French Provincial Furniture Worth?
While it is impossible to provide an exhaustive list of French Provincial Furniture values, we hope that the following list provides some help as you try to see how much your furniture might be worth.
As always, remember to honestly judge the condition of your item firstly and foremost. After all, a broken or badly damaged piece of furniture is virtually worthless on the market today.
Finally, these values are just a ballpark. Certainly, you may find these values to be extremely different in your region of the country. And, of course, it depends on the venue you decide to sell your furniture as well. (A yard sale is different from a high end used furniture store.)
Henredon French Provincial Furniture can cost anywhere from $800 to $2400 per piece.
Drexel Heritage French Provincial Furniture can cost anywhere from $400 to $1800 per piece.
Thomasville Furniture in this style can cost $300 to $1200 per piece.
Ethan Allen French Provincial Furniture can cost $300 to $1200 per piece.
Dixie French Provincial Furniture can cost $200 to $1000 per piece.
Where can I buy French Provincial Furniture?
While there are some new furniture makers that make this style of furniture, like Hooker Furniture and Ballard Designs, you may wish to seek out authentic vintage French Provincial pieces for your home.
Obviously, buying furniture online has its pros and cons. But, now that you are armed with the brand name vintage furniture to look for, you should have a better process. You may want to start with large marketplaces like Ebay, Craigslist, Etsy and Facebook Marketplace. Chairish and Ruby Lane are also excellent options that have shipping options.
Of course, a used furniture store near you is also a great option, if purchasing online gives you some pause. However, if they are not updating their websites, you may have to visit often to find a treasure!
Thank you for reading about this beautiful furniture style. Let us know, do you like this trend of furniture? Is it a style that will last for another 80 years?