NEW YORK — Whimsy meets drama in the colorful furniture and decorative goods made by MacKenzie-Childs. Celebrated for its fresh and young style, the firm, launched in 1983 in upstate New York on land that was once a 65-acre dairy farm, creates pieces that unite a detail-laden antique English style with sophisticated opulence and childlike fancy.
Though it is no longer steered by its founders, Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs, who were dislodged in 2000 in what they have described online as a hostile takeover, the company is still in business. And though MacKenzie-Childs furniture is not and cannot please everyone’s tastes, it has held its investment value, with vintage pieces selling far above their estimates and attracting new generations of fans.
“The people who like MacKenzie-Childs the best seem to be appreciators of handcraft with a humorous twist,” said Jill Fenichell, a furniture and decorations specialist and appraiser at Michaan’s Auctions in Alameda, California.
MacKenzie-Childs confections usually fall in the $2,000 to $3,000 price range at auction, but exceptional pieces have brought more. The leading price on the LiveAuctioneers platform for a MacKenzie-Childs belongs to a desk-armoire that sold well above its $3,000-$5,000 estimate, at $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2021 at William Bunch Auctions & Appraisals. The paneled doors were painted with landscape scenes, and the side panels sported floral decorations and colorful trim. A checkered border ran along the bottom and the ceramic feet were exuberantly colorful.
Launched in the early 1990s, the Courtly Check pattern has long been a signature look for the brand. According to the MacKenzie-Childs website, this pattern first appeared on an armoire and earned its name in 1995 after an editor called the company the ‘court jester of tabletop’ for its vivid checked ceramic tea- and tablewares.
Collectors covet this pattern, as evidenced by the auction performance of a two-door Courtly Check campaign bar that brought $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium at DuMouchelles in November 2021. Embellished with rattan, seagrass, and brass accents, the piece had an enameled checkerboard painted on top and opened to reveal a mirror surface underneath.
MacKenzie-Childs’ Chicken Palace collection ranks among its most elaborately indulgent lines. A wardrobe-form Chicken Palace jewelry case with decoration in varying patterns and painted-on ‘windows’ achieved $8,000 plus the buyer’s premium at Michaan’s Auctions in May 2023.
“The jewelry case is unlike most MacKenzie-Childs furniture in that it is like a dreamy Regency thing,” Fenichell said. “To my way of thinking, this was made as a mashup of Bridgerton-worthy fluff, a reliance on pastel hues, and architectural furniture design.”
Mixing bold patterns may be a no-no in clothing, but MacKenzie-Childs does it enthusiastically and often, as seen in a marble-top table with four chairs that took $6,500 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2021 at DuMouchelles.
It had a pastel palette, with pale blue stripes and floral decorations that played nicely with pink and silver stripes and the company’s signature black-and-white checkerboard pattern. In lesser hands, this design would be too busy, but the wizards at MacKenzie-Childs ensure that the colors and patterns harmonize.
Looking as if it came straight out of a Victorian Regency home, a large MacKenzie-Childs piece known as the Ridiculous Bench made $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium in August 2019 at Abington Auction Gallery. This statement piece boasts hand-painted faux marbling and a variety of hand-painted details, such as checks and dots, as well as gold leafing, floral transfers, and glass beaded fringe.
Buyers fall under the spell of MacKenzie-Childs for a range of reasons. Some like the fact that it makes its goods in America, while others respond to its unique, distinctive more-is-more aesthetic. Those who want to open their homes to a blending of bold styles are sure to find something they like in MacKenzie-Childs.
