One of our holiday deadlines in 2011 was a very nice dining suite that got to its current home through a bit of luck and a handful of determination. This story was related to us by our client Ingrid after she recovered the furniture. The furniture took some detours on the way to her house, and I will probably get some of the details wrong. Nevertheless, it is still a good story with a happy ending.
The table, ten chairs, and a tall china cabinet originally belonged to Ingrid’s grandmother in Oklahoma. At some point she decided she didn’t want it any longer. As sometimes happens, she got rid of it. Unknown to her, Ingrid wanted it and went on a mission to recover what, to her, was a family heirloom.
Saving this furniture was a good call. It is an extremely well made suite of furniture from the Kittinger Furniture Company of Buffalo. Made sometime in the early part of the 20th century using top of the line materials. If you have seen as many dining rooms as we have, you can immediately tell the difference. The most noticeable to me is that there are no secondary woods used in the construction. The tabletop veneers are beautiful mahogany, with mahogany as the backing veneer. The chairs are constructed of solid mahogany, as are the table pedestals. This is normally an area where you see secondary woods with only the most prominent areas being mahogany.
Even in the condition in which it arrived, I could tell it would be a showpiece when restored. Here you can see what it looked like on arrival.
The tabletop was in pretty good shape with only a degraded finish. 
The pedestals and legs. 
And here is a sample of the chairs. 
Well back to the rescue story. Every city or town has somebody that is a junk collector. There are lots of other names for them, but you know what I am talking about. That is where this furniture wound up. Ingrid’s grandmother gave, or sold, it to “Dumpster Dan” in a city I don’t remember.
Sometime later, Ingrid found out where the furniture was and took off on a rescue mission. She found it and bought it back, in the condition you see above. The chairs had been stored outside in a lean to. You can see the effects of the weather, water, and small visitors. At least the table and china cabinet were indoors, although not being treated with any respect!
Had Kittinger not manufactured a quality product, this furniture would not have survived. They have been around since 1866, and while I don’t know anything about the quality of their current goods, the antique pieces we have had in the shop have all been first rate.
Interestingly, two of the chairs were added to the set at a later date and don’t match the originals. Although 100% identical on the outside, the construction under the seat is different. Here is a delivery tag from the furniture store where they were purchased in 1950. 
The table was the easiest piece to restore. The refinishing was straight forward and there were not a lot of repairs needed to the top. The pedestals were completely rebuilt, as were all ten chairs. Even with the abuse they received in the junk yard, the only major repairs were to glue joints. The china cabinet is still usable and was reserved for a future project.
This was a great project for us. It is really a pleasure to restore such high quality furniture. By the way, Kittinger is still in business. I contacted them thinking they would have a company historian. I was hoping to get a date of manufacture, but sadly no reply. You can see the final results in the photos here. We delivered and set up the table with both leaves in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
