TUXEDO-ARM ‘WREN’ SOFA IN BEIGE LEATHER BY BILL SOFIELD FOR BAKER FURNITURE

This beautiful, tuxedo-style Wren sofa by William Sofield for BAKER FURNITURE features flaring arms and a slightly curved back. It has been upholstered in off-white, top-grain leather with a tight back and three loose seat cushions. Accented with decorative buttons, the welt–framed back and sides, along with the tapering, round, terraced legs capped with brass ferrules, complete the look. Named for the great English architect, Christopher Wren (1632–1723), who rebuilt much of London after the Great Fire of 1666, this highly structured sofa is a piece of interior architecture in its own right, and a signature object in BAKER FURNITURE’s Bill Sofield Collection. Modern and meticulously detailed, it can either float in the center of a room or anchor a wall.

WILLIAM SOFIELD (b. 1961) was raised in Metuchen, N.J., a suburb of New York City. After earning a BA in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University in 1983, and subsequently receiving a Helena Rubinstein Foundation Grant through the Whitney Museum, Sofield moved to Manhattan and took a job with Ralph Lauren during the creation of the brand’s seminal flagship store, the Neo-Renaissance mansion on the corner of Madison and 72^nd Street. Following a three-year apprenticeship with an Italian woodworker on the Upper East Side, Sofield and fellow Ralph Lauren alumnus, interior designer Thomas O’Brien (b. 1961), opened Aero Studios in the early 1990s.

Sofield’s subsequent climb to stardom can be credited to a remarkable talent for reinterpreting modernism, characterized by a striking blend of virtuosity and dramatic flair. In 1996, he founded his own firm, Studio Sofield; its impressive portfolio of shops, hotels, clubs, and residences, designed for cultural luminaries such as Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, Madonna, and Mary-Kate Olsen, exhibits a sophisticated idiosyncrasy informed by a deep passion for history, craft, and detail. Sofield is now regarded as one of the most thoughtful design talents of his generation and a master of Modernism. Interior Design magazine has described him as “a choreographer of spaces,” whose design approach allows for the character of a room to unfold over time. In a like manner, his furniture and product designs anticipate the future of each object, planning for its improvement with use and age, as it eventually becomes a treasured heirloom.

Restrained, mature, and with a sultry, masculine edge: William Sofield’s residential, hospitality, and commercial spaces have epitomized modern luxury for over two decades. Sofield has shepherded such well-heeled brands as Coach, YSL, and Harry Winston, along with the influential Soho Grand Hotel. His eponymous studio is a member of the AD100 Hall of Fame and was listed as an honoree as recently as 2023.

I think sometimes good design just feels inevitable—like it couldn't have been any other solution. It almost goes away. – WILLIAM SOFIELD

BAKER FURNITURE was founded as an interior woodwork and door company in 1890 by Dutch immigrant Siebe Baker (1852-1925) in Allegan, Mich., just west of Grand Rapids. It manufactured its first piece of furniture three years later: a combination desk and bookcase. Siebe’s son, Hollis S. Baker (1888-1966), joined the firm as a salesman in 1910 after graduating from the University of Michigan.

The company ventured into Modernism in 1925 with the debut of an Art Deco collection, Twentieth Century Shop. Several pieces from designer Donald Deskey were included. Upon Siebe’s death that year, Hollis was named president of the firm. By the end of the decade, BAKER FURNITURE stood at the forefront of the Modern movement among furniture manufacturers in the US.

BAKER premiered a line of bedroom furniture from Austrian-American stage designer Joseph Urban in 1927 and introduced pieces from noted modernist Kem Weber. It rolled out the first great furniture reproduction program in America, the Manor House Collection, in 1932. (Designs were mainly English, crafted by experts hand-picked from Europe.) In 1934, BAKER introduced Chinese Modern design to an American audience at the Chicago World’s Fair. Hollis organized over 1,500 antiques in the early ’40s into one of the world's largest private furniture collections.

BAKER FURNITURE introduced the Far East Collection in 1949, the first truly Asian furniture collection manufactured in the US. The next year, it popularized Italian neoclassic design with the debut of its Palladian Collection, based on a study of museum originals. BAKER partnered with acclaimed architect Finn Juhl in 1951 to create the first Danish Modern furniture collection designed specifically for the American market. The Grand Rapids Chair Co. was acquired in 1957, and production of a line of simpler, less costly pieces under BAKER’s Milling Road label was begun.

When Hollis S. died in 1966, his son Hollis M. Baker, who would explore new niches in the luxury market, became president. A new facility was opened in Mocksville, N.C., to produce high-quality machine-made furniture. Collections introduced in the ’60s and ’70s included lines of country English and French Provincial furniture, as well as high-end executive desks. Notable was Woburn Abbey (1969), which featured reproductions of 25 choice English antiques from the home of the Duke of Bedford. BAKER FURNITURE merged with a leading showroom network in 1972 to form Baker, Knapp & Tubbs, which remains one of the largest wholesale distributors in the industry. A year later, it entered the upholstery business with a plant located in High Point, N.C. Finding inspiration in one of the New World’s most fashionable, furniture-forward capitols, BAKER launched the Historic Charleston Collection in 1976.

In 1980, Italian interior designer Alessandro Gambrielli Gambalogna released a small collection of avant-garde occasional and dining room pieces with BAKER known simply as Alessandro.  A year later, BAKER unveiled its Stately Homes Collection: copies of originals found in celebrated castles and estates in the UK. The exuberant reception of John Saladino’s 1984 Façade Collection affirmed BAKER’s lasting importance to designers around the world.

Kohler Co. acquired BAKER FURNITURE in 1986 and made it the cornerstone of its Interiors Group. Further design successes marked the late ’80s: the Charles Pfister Collection of Art Deco furniture and the McMillen Collection of continental furniture drawn from the archives of the eponymous New York design firm. Milling Road was revived as a division in 1990, once again offering less formal, more livable furniture at lower price points. That same year, the Smithsonian inducted the #789 Chippendale Chair into its permanent collection. In 1996, the Barbara Barry Collection debuted, featuring designs by the California-based artist that drew on 1930s Hollywood glamour.

From 2000 to 2015, BAKER launched collections from celebrated designers William Sofield, Thomas Pheasant, Laura Kirar, Michael S. Smith, and Jacques Garcia; the Collector’s Edition (2005), inspired by classic European designs; and extraordinary lines from design luminaries Tony Duquette and André Arbus (2008-09). Hollywood royalty experienced BAKER FURNITURE elegance firsthand when the company was asked to furnish the Green Rooms for the Academy Awards presentations in 2011 and 2013. During this period, the company also provided furniture for a VIP lounge at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for three years running. A flurry of international showroom openings—Paris, Moscow, Singapore, and three cities in China—punctuated this later era.

DETAILS

Designer – WILLIAM SOFIELD

Design Period/Year – 2001

Maker – BAKER FURNITURE

Production Period/Year – 2000s

Origin – USA

Styles/Movements – MODERNIST

Materials – LEATHER, WOOD, BRASS

Colors – BEIGE

Condition – Excellent vintage condition. May show minor signs of previous ownership and use.

Dimensions – 87 ½" W × 34" D × 29" H

Seat Dimensions – 73" W × 23" D × 20" H

Arm Height – 29"

Number of Seats – 3