Chair (no. 2606)

United Crafts

1901-02 (ca.)

Ash, original leather upholstery

2018.19.19

Gift of Gregg and Monique Seibert

While hindsight and history may position Gustav Stickley as a leader in the American Arts and Crafts movement, it is useful to remember that at the turn of the century he was probably known by a more basic term: chairmaker. Indeed, his early career and prior partnership with Elgin Simonds were mainly devoted to chairs, and it was only after that partnership dissolved that a sustained effort in making case pieces, tables, and other various forms becomes evident. Even at the end of 1900, fully one-third of the forms produced in the factory were chairs, and he was still producing the revival styles for which he had become well-known, even as he began to embrace a more cohesive Arts and Crafts aesthetic.

If this new language of design allowed Stickley to better forge an individual identity that separated him from the many makers of revival-style furniture and allowed him to connect with audiences who desired this new aesthetic, it engaged an audience that had less money to spend on their furniture, as his revival-style furniture tended to be substantially more expensive. Retailing for $7.75, a set of six of these chairs cost customers $46.50 (approximately $1400 adjusting for inflation), compared to $75.00 (more than $2200 today) for a set of carved Chippendale style chairs.

Purchased, en suite, by an undisclosed buyer, ca. 1901, then by descent. Dalton’s American Decorative Arts and Antiques (September 2001). Cathers and Dembrosky (by 2002). Gregg and Monique Seibert (2002).