Antique Mission Oak Secretary Desk by Cron and Kills Furniture Company, Piqua, Ohio

Description

Antique Mission style drop-front secretary desk manufactured by The Cron-Kills Furniture Company of Piqua, Ohio.

The desk was likely made … more Antique Mission style drop-front secretary desk manufactured by The Cron-Kills Furniture Company of Piqua, Ohio.

The desk was likely made between 1905 and 1920.

The desk is built from fumed quarter-sawn oak wood, commonly referred to as "tiger oak" due to the golden ray figures in the wood this cut enables.

The top is surrounded by a wooden book rail.

The slant-front drops down with a tug on the brass pull, which also serves as the keyhole plate and escutcheon, to become a working desk surface which rests on the pulled-out drawer for support.

The interior is fitted with a removable gathering of curve-edged vertical and horizontal pigeon holes for correspondence and two small storage drawers fronted with round brass knobs. There is plenty of room for your laptop, tablets, and other devices.

Below the slant-front are two long storage drawers, one atop the other. The drawer fronts are attached with dovetail construction. Each drawer has two square oak wood pulls and brass keyhole inserts.

The locks do work and keys are provided.

The Cron-Kills maker's label is on the back, although barely legible due to age.

SIZE:

42.25" wide
18" deep closed; 31.5" deep open
43" high
26.25" knee clearance

Desk will work well with interiors featuring elements of Mission Style, Arts & Crafts, and Victorian and Edwardian Golden Oak.


About The Cron-Kills Co.:

The Cron-Kills Furniture Company was founded in January of 1881 in Piqua, Ohio by Andrew J. Cron (1895-1905), Robert B. Kills, Samuel Zollinger, and Henry Flesh.

They incorporated in 1904 with Henry Flesh as president, Samuel Zollinger as vice-president, and S.M. Allison as secretary-treasurer. In 1932 Alfred L. Flesh became vice-president.

Before partnering with Kills, Cron had worked at the L.C. & W.L. Cron Furniture Company.

Cron-Kills manufactured extension tables, cupboards, safes, wardrobes, and ladies' desks.

The Cron-Kills Co. survived three fires in the late-19th century. The April 1892 fire was started by sparks from the company's smoke stack and became the largest fire the city of Piqua ever experienced.

The company survived the fires and United States Congressional duty reform to remain a strong and forward thinking furniture company. They offered popular low and moderately priced furniture and they served an American market with a diversity of patterns, including "portable" wardrobes and desks in the late 1800s - an idea IKEA and other box stores would succeed with post-WWII. The "portable" desks were shipped with the top and legs with instructions on how to screw the legs into the base. Cron-Kills competed well in an Ohio market dominated by Mission and Arts & Crafts manufacturers of furniture, pottery, textiles, and metal wares. Today, the Cron-Kills designs may not be as well known as Stickley's or Limbert's; however, their patterns hold their own next to them.

Cron-Kills also supported immigration and paid living wages to their employees.

A.J. Cron died in 1905 and R.B. Kills continued the business. A 1905 catalog featuring ladies' desks also promotes Cron-Kills costumes. How they got into the costuming business, we do not know, but would enjoy finding the tale.

The Cron-Kills Company was still doing business throughout the 1940s. Furniture business veteran Merle Cobb Hutchinson became a representative for Cron-Kills in the American Furniture Mart in Chicago from 1942. Cron-Kills was also contracted in 1947 to manufacture wood bureaus for the U.S. Army. less