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Old Name, New Energy

Writer Ren Miller

Keeler Brass Co. reappears in time for 130th anniversary

A selection from Keeler Brass Co.’s Anthology Collection.

Belwith Keeler Décor Solutions, a hardware company that is a favorite with interior designers for its artistry and innovation, celebrates its 130th anniversary this year by launching a luxury collection through a new division with an old name: Keeler Brass Co.®

“Aura” from Belwith Keeler’s Bijou Collection.

Keeler Brass Co. was the name that brothers Miner, George and Isaac Keeler gave their company when they took over and revamped Middleville Manufacturing Co. in 1893. Based in Middleville, Michigan, the company focused on high levels of design, production and craftsmanship to meet a growing demand for solid brass hardware in the region’s burgeoning home furnishings industry.

All of the designs in the ensuing 130 years were cataloged and saved, and today serve as inspiration for updated and new designs. “We have all of the masters from the past 130 years (3,000+) that we can pull from,” says Knikki Grantham, the company’s creative director. “We can literally go into our warehouse, walk up to a cabinet and pull out a drawer of masters from 1949.” The value in having these historical references? “If you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know who you are or where you want to go,” Grantham says.

“Dew” from the Bijou Collection.

First up for the new Keeler Brass Co. is a collaboration with designer Richard T. Anuszkiewicz, creative director of Monogram Appliances. Anuszkiewicz’s newest introductions for Monogram, introduced at the 2023 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, feature hardware from Keeler Brass.

The new division, designed and manufactured in the United States, also debuted the Anthology collection of white-glove luxury solid brass and bronze hardware, which designers can customize for their own projects. “We’re calling on our roots and following in our founders’ footsteps with this made-to-order line,” Grantham says. “We looked at what made us successful. We’re full steam ahead with having a bigger and better for the next 100 years.”

“Pebble” in polished nickel.

Keeler Brass Co. joins the company’s other divisions:

  • Belwith Keeler®, with a focus on quality and craftsmanship with a little edgier feel.
  • Hickory Hardware®, with all the benefits of in-house design and engineering but “playing in a more vanilla space,” Grantham notes.
  • First Watch® Security, primarily a builder product.