Source Citation: "Craftsman
Furniture Catalog, 1910." Made by Gustav Stickley at The Craftsman
Workshops, Eastwood, N. Y.
Anybody who knows Craftsman furniture has no
difficulty in perceiving that the principles upon which it is based are honesty
and simplicity. This is quite true, for when I first began to make it I did so
because I felt that the badly-constructed, over-ornate, meaningless furniture
that was turned out in such quantities by the factories was not only bad in
itself, but that its presence in the homes of the people was an influence that
led directly away from the sound qualities which make an honest man and a good
citizen. It seemed to me that we were getting to be a thoughtless, extravagant
people, fond of show and careless of real value, and that one way to counteract
this national tendency was to bring about, if possible, a different standard of
what was desirable in our homes.
I suppose it was because I began as a farmer
boy and got my training for the work I was ultimately to do by doing as a
matter of course the thing which had to be done, that I grew up with the habit
of going at things in a natural way. The farmer boy is not given to theorizing
about his work, but he soon learns to accept without question the fact that
certain things have to be done and that the best way is for him to get right at
it and get them done as soon as possible.
Therefore, when the idea came to me that the
thing for me to do was to make better and simpler furniture, I naturally went
at it in the most direct way. Having been for many years a furniture
manufacturer, I was, of course, familiar with all the traditional styles, and in
trying to make the kind of furniture which I thought was needed in our homes, I
had no idea of attempting to create a new style, but merely tried to make
furniture which would be simple, durable, comfortable and fitted for the place
it was to occupy and the work it had to do. It seemed to me that the only way
to do this was to cut loose from all tradition and to do away with all needless
ornamentation, returning to plain principles of construction and applying them
to the making of simple, strong, comfortable furniture, and I firmly believe
that Craftsman furniture is the concrete expression of this idea.
Because of the sturdiness and beauty of our
American white oak, I chose it as the best wood for the kind of furniture I had
in mind, and the "style," such as it was, developed naturally from
the character of the wood and the application to it of the most direct
principles of construction. The result was that I soon found that there was a
quality in my plain furniture which took hold of nearly all thinking people as
it had taken hold of me, and that in giving expression to what might have been
considered an impractical ideal under present-day conditions, I had hit upon an
idea which was destined to have a far greater success than even I had hoped for
it.
The first pieces of Craftsman furniture were
completed in 1898 and then for two years more I worked steadily over the
development of forms, the adjustment of proportions and the search for a finish
which would protect the wood and mellow it in color without sacrificing its
natural woody quality. Then in 1900 I introduced Craftsman furniture to the
public at large by exhibiting it at the Furniture Exposition in
But this success carried with it the
obligation to go on and develop still further the basic principles which had
found expression in the furniture. The first need was for metal trim which
would harmonize in character with the furniture, as none of the glittering,
fragile metal then in vogue was possible in connection with its straight severe
lines and plain surfaces. So I opened a metal work department in The Craftsman
Workshops, and there we made plain, strong handles, pulls, hinges and
escutcheons of iron, copper and brass, so designed and made that each article
fulfilled as simply and directly as possible the purpose for which it was
intended, and so finished that the natural quality of each metal was shown
frankly as was the quality of the wood against which it was placed. Also,--for
Craftsman furniture is very exacting in its requirements,--leather was needed
for cushions, table tops and seats for chairs and settles, and sturdy fabrics
interesting in color, weave and texture, had to be found for the same purpose.
This necessitated a further expansion to take in the special treatment of
leathers so that they harmonize with the Craftsman idea in maintaining all
their leathery quality unimpaired, while giving long service under hard wear;
and also to include a fabric department, that the textiles used in connection
with the furniture would be sure to have the qualities that would harmonize
with it.
The fact that the furniture so imperatively
demanded the right kind of metal work and fabrics naturally opened the way to a
more extended use of these departments in the making of things intended for
general furnishings. While Craftsman furniture is very friendly in its nature
and fits in comfortably with any good simple scheme of interior decoration and
furnishing, it yet holds out a strong temptation to develop an entire scheme of
furnishing along the same lines. So we began in the metal shop to make electric
lighting fixtures, fireplace fittings, trays, candlesticks and all manner of
useful household articles, designed on the same general principles as the
furniture and therefore just as essentially a part of one general scheme of
furnishing. The fabrics in their turn were made into curtains, portières, pillows, scarfs,
centerpieces and the like, and decorated with needlework and appliqué,
in strong simple designs and colorings which belonged to the oaken furniture as
naturally as the leaves on a tree belong to the trunk. So, step by step, we
grew naturally into the designing and arranging, first of rooms, then of entire
schemes of interior decoration, and lastly the planning and building of the
whole house.
As I have already said, Craftsman furniture
is built for all manner of uses and its construction is so thorough that it
will last for the lifetime of the oak of which it is made, which means the
lifetime of several generations of men. Being designed upon the most natural
lines and made in the most natural way, there is little room for change in the
style, and that the style itself has made good its appeal to the American
people is best proven by the fact that, during the twelve years it has been
upon the market, it has remained unchanged, except for such modifications and
improvements as evidence a healthy growth along normal lines of development. It
is impossible to get far away from the structural lines which declare the
purpose and use of the piece, and the proportions that best serve that purpose
and use are the proportions which it should have. As to the matter of
decoration, it will grow of itself in time, for true decoration is always the
natural expression of the thought and desire of the people who own and use the
things made, combined with the desire of the craftsman to express his own idea
of beauty. I am so sure of this that I have been content to leave the furniture
absolutely plain until the form of decoration which inevitably belongs to it
shall come.
Of course, a great deal depends upon the
finish which is given the oak of which it is made. This is a case where art
must come to the aid of nature, because to leave the wood in the purely natural
state would be to leave it exposed to all manner of soil and stain from wear.
Also, the natural color of new oak is rather uninteresting; it needs age and
exposure to give it the depth and mellowness which we associate with this wood.
So, while our whole object is to keep the wood looking entirely natural in its
possession of all the qualities which belong to oak, this can be done only by
the most careful treatment. Some time ago it was discovered that the fumes of
ammonia would, within a very short time, darken white oak naturally, giving it
the appearance which ordinarily would result from age and use. Therefore, as
soon as a piece of Craftsman furniture is made, it is first moistened all over
to open the pores, and then put into an air-tight compartment, on the floor of
which are placed basins of very strong (26%) ammonia. The time usually demanded
for this fuming is forty-eight hours, but that is varied according to the wood
and the depth of color required. After the fuming the wood is carefully sand
papered by hand until all the loose fiber is rubbed away and every trace of
roughness removed. Then comes the final finish. For
years I worked and experimented to find something that would leave the
furniture entirely free from the hard glaze given by the use of shellac or
varnish and yet would completely protect it, not only from soil or stain but
also from the atmospheric changes which cause it to shrink or swell. It was a
difficult problem,--that of finding a method of finishing which would preserve
all the woody quality of the oak without sacrificing the protection needed to
make it "stand" under widely varying climatic conditions,--and it is
only recently that I hit upon a solution which satisfies me. I found that all
that is required to develop the best qualities of oak is to so ripen and mellow
the wood that the full value of its natural color is brought out, as well as
the individual beauty of texture and grain. The final finish we give it adds
very little color, as our aim is rather to develop than to alter the natural
tone of the wood, which always appears as an undertone below the surface tint.
By the use of this finish we give the oak three different tones, all of which
belong essentially to the wood. One is a light soft brown that is not unlike
the hue of the frost-bitten oak leaf; another is the rich nut-brown tone which
time gives to very old oak; and the third is a delicate gray that gives to the
brown of the wood a silvery sheen such as might be produced by the action of
the sun and wind. For the last rubbing we use the "Craftsman Wood
Luster," which is not a varnish or a polish, but which gives a soft satiny
luster to the surface of the wood. When that surface is worn or soiled with use
it may be fully restored--if the soil does not penetrate beyond the surface--by
wiping it off with a piece of cheesecloth dampened with the Wood Luster and
then rubbing it dry with a fresh cloth.
In the selection of materials for covering
our chairs and settles, we give the preference to the Craftsman leathers, which
are especially prepared to harmonize with the design and finish of our
furniture. These leathers are of three kinds--Hard and Soft Leather and
Sheepskin, all finished by a process of our own, and each satisfactory in its
place. The Hard and Soft Leathers are produced by the use of different methods
in tanning cattle hides, by which one is made much like sole leather in
stiffness and durability, and is given a smooth, hard surface, while the other
is rendered soft and pliable, with a surface possessing texture enough to give
an excellent effect when dull-finished. Hard Leather is used for table tops and
for chair and settle seats where the leather is
stretched over the seat rails and nailed on. Soft Leather is used for slip
seats in chairs and for loose seat cushions in settles, where the size of the
cushion requires a large hide. Sheepskin is the softest and most flexible of
all our leathers, and seems to me to be best adapted to covering pillows and
loose seat and back cushions for chairs, where the skins can be used without
piecing.
My constant experimenting with finishes has
included the treatment of leather as well as wood, and my recent success with
wood finishes suggested a way to improve the leather as well. The result is
that I have not only found a method by which all these leathers are made
waterproof, but also I have been able to do away with what so far has been the
weak point of Sheepskin, for I am now dressing the skins in such a way that
they are entirely free from any tendency to check or craze. Naturally, their
wearing quality is greatly improved, and in addition to this I have been able
to obtain a beauty of color and a softness of surface that, so far as I know,
has never been equaled. No artificial graining is used, but the natural grain of
each kind of leather is left to show its full value.
All our loose spring seat cushions for
chairs and settles are made so that the shape will be retained even under the
hardest wear. These cushions are made over stout wood frames which are
carefully fitted to each piece, and have exactly the same appearance as the
ordinary loose cushions, except that the frame upon which the cushion is built
slips just inside the frame of the chair, so that the seat, although removable,
is always in place. Its construction not only makes it more comfortable than
the ordinary cushion, but keeps it from ever getting out of shape or wearing
into hollows like the ordinary stuffed cushions. Where the backs of chairs
require loose cushions, they are made with equal care and filled with Java
floss.
With some of our more massive tables, we
have been able to obtain an added interest by covering the top with hard
leather, finished in a color that blends with and emphasizes the tone of the
wood. Naturally, we use only a single large hide in covering a table top, so
that the surface is perfect, and the great spread of leather, showing the most
charming play of varied tones over the glossy surface,--which yet retains all
the leathery quality as an undertone,--gives an effect of rich and sober
excellence to the piece that makes it easily the center of attraction among the
furnishings of a living room or a large and well-appointed library. We quote in
the catalogue the prices of both wood-top and leather-top; but for those that
are best left all in wood, we quote no price in
leather.
All our leather-seated chairs, which have
not either slip seats or spring-seat cushions, are made with firm, flat seats
of hard leather, stretched tightly over the rails. This seat has unlimited
durability. The foundation is made of very thick, firm canvas, stretched
tightly over the seat-rails and nailed underneath. Over this heavy webbing is
woven as closely as the width of the strands will permit, and just enough
padding is laid over the top to give a smooth surface above the webbing--but
not enough to interfere with the perfect flatness of the seat. Then the hard
leather, stiff and firm as sole leather, is stretched over the rails, wrapped
around and nailed on the inside. The square-headed nails are used only at the
corners, where they fasten down the leather that is cut around the posts.
All the rockers now used on Craftsman
rocking chairs are cut straight with the grain of the wood and then bent with
steam pressure by bending machines. This precaution makes the rocker as strong
as any other part of the chair and entirely does away with the danger of
breaking that exists when the rocker is cut on a curve that partly crosses the
grain.
From its first success in 1900, the
popularity achieved by Craftsman furniture was the signal to an army of
imitators who saw in it what they considered a novelty that would prove to be a
notable moneymaker. These manufacturers at once began to turn out large
quantities of furniture which was designed in what seemed to them the same
style. But failing to comprehend my reasons for giving to Craftsman furniture
forms that were plain and almost primitive, they naturally seized upon this
primitiveness as a fad which might be profitable and exaggerated it into
intentional crudeness. This imitation has grown instead of decreased with the
passing of time, and while in one sense it is the best evidence of the
popularity and stability of the Craftsman style, in another it creates
confusion which at times is annoying. Restrained by law from the use of my
registered name, "Craftsman," these manufacturers get as near to it
as they can and variously style their products "Mission,"
"Hand-Craft," "Arts and Crafts," "Crafts-Style,"
"Roycroft," and "Quaint." To add
to the confusion, some of the most persistent of these imitators bear the same
name as myself and what is called "Stickley
furniture" is frequently, through misrepresentation on the part of
salesmen and others, sold as "Craftsman furniture or just the same
thing."
Purchasers should bear this in mind when
selecting furniture, and if they desire to get the genuine Craftsman furniture,
they should remember that by this name alone it is known, and that it is sold
only by the dealers whose names appear in the list of associates printed in
this catalogue and in each issue of THE CRAFTSMAN Magazine. Furthermore, it
should be borne in mind that each piece of Craftsman furniture is not only
tagged with the name "Craftsman," but is stamped with my registered
shop mark--a joiner's compass of ancient make, enclosing the motto "Als ik Kan," and bearing my
own signature below. Also, each piece bears the price tag as shown here. This
tag is attached before the piece leaves my workshops, for the price of my work
is fixed only by myself. The freight charges for the
transportation of furniture to the other side of the continent make it
necessary to have two price lists, one of which obtains in all parts of the
country east of
The making of Craftsman furniture has come
to be such an important part of my life, and personally I care so much for the
things I have made, that it makes a great deal of difference to me whether or
not the people who own and use it have toward it a thoroughly satisfied and
friendly feeling. My idea of it is that the first cost of the furniture to the
purchaser is only a part of its value, which will steadily increase with age
and use. It is not a question of buying a chair or a table that will fall to
pieces or go out of fashion in a few years, so that it has to be replaced with
another that in time suffers the same fate, but of buying a piece of furniture
that will be a permanent part of the home surroundings and that in fifty or a
hundred years will be worth many times its first cost, for the time is coming
when good oak furniture will be as valuable on account of its permanent worth
and also of its scarcity as the fine old Spanish mahogany pieces are now. For
these reasons I wish every purchaser of Craftsman furniture clearly to
understand that I prefer to take back or make good any piece that is defective
in any way, or for some other reason is not entirely satisfactory.