Armchair

Gustav Stickley

ca. 1903 · Oak, pewter, copper and wood inlays. Leather seat. · The American Wing

Gustav Stickley became an avid promoter of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America after his 1898 trip to England and his acquaintance of William Morris. He subsequently introduced a line called New Furniture, which featured the ponderous forms, visible construction, and stained oak of Craftsman furniture. This chair was part of a second generation of furniture made by Stickley beginning in 1903, characterized by solid forms relieved by areas of metal and exotic wood inlay. While this furniture has traditionally been attributed to Harvey Ellis, an architect who began working in Stickley’s shop in 1903, recent research has shown that Ellis was not solely responsible for this development, and that it might have been a collaborative effort among all of the designers at United Crafts. The delicate copper and pewter inlay pattern relates to the furniture of contemporary British designers M.H. Baillie Scott and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Artist

Gustav Stickley

Date

ca. 1903

Medium

Oak, pewter, copper and wood inlays. Leather seat.

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Leeds Art Foundation, in honor of Morrison H. Heckscher, 2014