Synopses & Reviews
Beginning in the very first year of the twentieth century, Gustav Stickley made furniture that is prized almost a hundred years later for its honesty, simplicity, and usefulness. As a designer and manufacturer who emphasized careful workmanship, respect for natural materials, and simple lines, Stickley had a profound impact on the look of American homes. Today, Arts and Crafts design -- synonymous with Stickley to many people -- has become an American passion.
Elegantly designed and lushly photographed, Stickley Style is the first major publication to explore in full photographic color the central role Stickley played in the development of Arts and Crafts design. Author David Cathers invites us into the world of this influential furniture maker and provides us with an insider's tour of some of the country's most important Stickley collections and interiors. Here, imbued with pure and simple lines, are the comfortable Morris chairs, the upright settles, the solid oak chests, the hammered metalwork, and the delicate textiles that have come to epitomize Stickley's style.
But Stickley was more than a furniture maker -- he was a one-man phenomenon: book and magazine publisher, proponent of a simple and natural lifestyle, and de facto leader of the Arts and Crafts movement in America. Calling the composite of his ideas and activities "the craftsmanship of life," he used the word Craftsman to refer to his houses, his furniture, and his magazine.
Stickley Style captures the excitement and revolutionary zeal of these ideas and this era, a time when Victorian fussiness was being abandoned in the search for a modern way to live. The book opens with a vivid description of the Craftsman idea and describes Stickley's vision of ways to make a house conducive to a life of beauty and contentment. Cathers then goes on to show us the collections in a series of stunning Arts and Crafts homes, including Stickley's own family home in New Jersey. Finally, for those who want to furnish their own homes with appropriate reproductions, an extensive catalogue presents everything from Stickley tables and sideboards to tall case clocks and metal door latches. Throughout, specially commissioned photographs by Alexander Vertikoff show the overall harmony that will make the Stickley style as much a favorite for the new century as it was for the last.
Description
Includes bibliographic references ( p. 220-221) and index.
About the Author
David Cathers is a writer and frequent lecturer on the Arts and Crafts movement. He is also a trustee of Craftsman Farms. Stickley's log home in New Jersey, which is now a National Historic Landmark Cathers is the author of Furniture of the American Arts and Grafts Movement, the first in-depth study of the Furniture made by Gustav Stickley, L. and J. G. Stickley, and the Roycrofters. His Genius in the Shadows, a study of Harvey Ellis, traces the work of the architect who designed some of Stickley's most important Furniture. A former advertising executive, Cathers lives with his wife in Westchester County, New York, in a farmhouse furnished with classic Stickley pieces.
Table of Contents
Contents INTRODUCTION
Gustav Stickley and the Craftsmanship of Life
STICKLEY STYLE
Outside -- Home Making
"That Plainness Which Is Beauty"
The Craftsman house
"Under Fragrant Bowers"
Porches, pergolas, and terraces
"That Green Eden"
The Craftsman garden
Inside -- Craftsman Ideals
"Comfort and Beauty"
Living rooms
"Centers of Hospitality and Good Cheer"
Dining rooms and kitchens
"Complete and Satisfying"
Walls and floors
"Simple, Strong, Comfortable"
Craftsman furniture
"According to Principle"
Metalwork and lamps
"Homespun Harmony"
Fabrics, rugs, and needlework
CONTINUING THE CRAFTSMAN TRADITION
Stickley Pure and Simple
The House of Mr. Stickley
At Gustav Stickley's home in Syracuse, New York, a fire ignites the Craftsman idea
Stickley's Rustic Vision
Stickley builds the ultimate log cabin at Craftsman Farms in New Jersey
Family Matters
In Massachusetts, a great-granddaughter safeguards Stickley heirlooms
From the Pages of The Craftsman
A Craftsman house constructed from a Stickley plan enlivens a New York City suburb
How to Build a Bungalow
Ninety years later, a Harvey Ellis bungalow design is finally realized near Chicago
Kindred Spirits
Furniture by the brothers L. and J. G. Stickley fills a house outside Boston
Stickley by Serendipity
A Craftsman bedroom in northern California spurs a love of Stickley
A Good Eye for Stickley
Craftsman oak, metalwork, and lighting settle into a stone house near Mew York City
Hooked on Arts and Crafts
An Arts and Crafts guru disseminates the Stickley gospel Stickley and Then Some
The First Collector
Robert Judson Clark of California relaunches the Arts and Crafts movement
An Unlikely Setting for Stickley
Stickley treasures complement the author's 1797 farmhouse in suburban Mew York
Comrades in Spirit, Rivals in Style
A master craftsman's own upstate New York home preserves the spirit of Elbert Hubbard's Roycroft
In the Land of "Free-Hand Architecture"
A classic California bungalow showcases the state's exceptional Arts and Crafts achievements
Craftsmen of a Different Stripe
Indian blankets and photographs document a lost way of life
One True Passion
Two halves of a rare Stickley sideboard are reunited by determined collectors in suburban New Jersey
Meeting of the Minds
Then and now, a Greene and Greene landmark in Pasadena makes a perfect fit with Stickley
A Generous Welcome for Stickley
Craftsman ideas find a surprising home tn a Texas Victorian
A Harmony of Opposites
Light and heavy, plain and fancy mix as Stickley might have liked
The Wright Kind of House
Spindled splendors by Stickley mirror Frank Lloyd Wright's own principles
Transatlantic Bungalow
A California bungalow pays homage to the international roots of Arts and Crafts
STICKLEY AT HOME
Catalogue
Suppliers
Credits
Sources and Further Reading
Index