The 1912 and 1915 Gustav Stickley Craftsman Furniture Catalogs

Gustav Stickley

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486266763
• eBook ISBN: 9780486138763

Studying, exhibiting, and collecting Gustave Stickley's austere, functional designs for furniture and other home furnishing continue to be major pursuits of scholars, curators, dealers, and collectors in the decorative field. This volume brings back into print two original Craftsmen catalogs illustrating and describing a broad range of Stickley's furniture designs, complete with the original captions citing materials, dimensions, and prices.
Among the furniture shown are armchairs, rockers, stools, settees, desks, beds, music cabinets, drop-leaf tables, nests of tables, chests of drawers, sideboards, china cabinets and dressers. The other items offered in the catalogs include wicker baskets, fabrics, pottery, lamps, china, silverware, and glass.
With over 200 detailed illustrations and descriptions, these two catalogs, first published in 1912 and ca. 1915, are essential reference materials and identification guides for Stickley furniture. In addition, they offer social historians and students of Americana documentation of the new design trend and philosophy that swept America in the early years of the twentieth century, creating a bold break with the past and setting new directions in modern design.

CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE

APRIL 1912

MADE BY
GUSTAV STICKLEY
AT THE CRAFTSMAN WORKSHOPS
EASTWOOD, N.Y.
SHOW ROOMS:
29 WEST 34TH ST., NEW YORK

470 BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON

“CRAFTSMAN”

TRADE
MARKS
REG’D

IN U.S.
PATENT
OFFICE

HOW TO IDENTIFY CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE

Each piece of Craftsman furniture bears my shop-mark shown above—joiner’s compasses enclosing the motto Als ik kan, and the written signature “Stickley,” both of which are trade-marks registered in the United States Patent Office.

Among those who are imitating my styles are other furniture-makers named Stickley. Purchasers, therefore, should always look for the word “Craftsman”—also a registered trade-mark—on the tags and pasters attached to each piece of my furniture.

The joiner’s compasses, a primitive cabinetmaker’s tool, are symbolic of the fundamental principles on which my furniture is based, and the motto, Als ik kan, taken from the Flemish and meaning “As I can,” recalls the old-time craftsman ideals of earnest and thorough workmanship.

My furniture is made at The Craftsman Workshops, Eastwood, N. Y., and I have no connection with any other factory. Each piece of furniture before it leaves the factory is provided with a tag which carrries the price at which the piece is to be sold in the store. Cost of transportation necessitates two price lists, one for Eastern and one for far Western States.

GUSTAV STICKLEY
THE CRAFTSMAN WORKSHOPS, EASTWOOD, N Y.
SHOW ROOMS.
29 WEST 34th ST , NEW YORK CITY 470 BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON.
ORDER NUMBER OF THIS PIECE OF FURNITURE IS ___

Form of paster which will hereafter be attached to each piece of Craftsman furniture.

CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE

LIVING ROOM IN HOME OF MR. R. M. BOND, DE LAND, FLORIDA, WITH CRAFTSMAN FURNISHINGS.

MADE BY
GUSTAV STICKLEY
AT THE CRAFTSMAN WORKSHOPS
EASTWOOD, N.Y. (P.O. ADDRESS-SYRACUSE, N.Y.)

SHOW ROOMS:
29 WEST 34TH ST., NEW YORK

470 BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON

GUSTAV STICKLEY: ORIGINATOR OF CRAFTSMAN HOUSES AND CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE: FOUNDER AND EDITOR OF THE CRAFTSMAN MAGAZINE.

WHAT CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE STANDS FOR

WITHIN the last twelve years the popularity of Craftsman furniture has increased so largely that it is now recognized as a national style. This is partly because it was intended primarily to fill, in the most direct and natural way, the actual needs of American home life, and partly because at the time it was put forward people were on the verge of an artistic awakening, a reaction against the insincerity and false ornateness of the furnishings of that period. The impetus of this movement, being in the direction of my own efforts, naturally helped to carry my work forward to success.

Today the word “Craftsman” has become established in the public mind as a synonym for simple, well-made furniture, constructed on primitive lines, planned for comfort, durability and beauty, and expressing the spirit of true democracy.

The original pieces of Craftsman furniture were made in 1898. For two years I experimented and worked over the many problems of design, construction and finishing. In 1900 I exhibited my first Craftsman furniture to the general public at the Furniture Exposition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with decidedly encouraging results. The following year it was again shown at the Pan-American Exposition, and from that time it found a welcome in the homes of the people.

Then there developed the making of the various furniture accessories—strong simple hinges, handles and pulls of iron, copper and brass. I also found that I needed just the right sort of leather and fabrics for cushions, table tops and chair seats, and so I studied and experimented with these materials until I discovered the sort of treatment they required to bring them into harmony with my furniture.

As the use of Craftsman furniture offered such interesting opportunities to develop an entire decorative scheme along the same lines, I gradually branched out from the metal and upholstery work into the making of electric lighting fixtures, lamps, candlesticks, fireplace fittings, trays, etc., and also curtains, portières, pillows, scarfs, centerpieces, with simple designs and colorings.

In all these things I have tried to get the best possible results, using only suitable materials and the best workmanship. I try always to work with the material rather than to force it to my own ends, to retain and emphasize the natural interest of grain, texture and color. For instance, the oak finish which I use has been fumed and finished in a way that preserves the inherent beauties of the wood, with just enough color added to heighten the original effect. This finish, in fact, which I have worked so long to attain, is now recognized as the standard finish for which everyone is striving.

Most of my furniture was so carefully designed and well-proportioned in the first place, that even with my advanced experience I cannot improve upon it. Month by month, of course, I am adding new pieces to fill some special need, but there are few changes in the original designs. For this reason, people who are buying Craftsman furniture can feel that the pieces they purchase today will never go “out of style,”but will be even more appropriate and beautiful as time goes on.

A number of such new designs are included in the following pages, and to all who are interested I extend a...

Table of contents

• DOVER BOOKS ON ANTIQUES AND COLLECTING
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• PREFACE TO THE ATHENAEUM/DOVER EDITION
• PUBLISHER’S NOTE
• CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE - APRIL 1912
• The Craftsman - DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR FURNISHINGS