Stickley Prairie Settle

Gustav Stickley was one of the principal figures in the American Arts and Crafts movement and the creator of the Craftsman style. In 1883, Stickley established a furniture company called Stickley Brothers with two of his brothers, Albert and Charles. Gustav’s other siblings, Leopold and John George, would later form L & J.G. Stickley Inc. in Fayetteville, New York, in 1905.

As a furniture designer and publisher of the magazine The Craftsman, Gustav adopted many of the ideals of the British design reform movement and popularized both its philosophy and its aesthetics in the United States.

Born in Wisconsin, Stickley moved with his family to Pennsylvania when he was a teenager and began working in his uncle’s chair factory in the town of Brandt. There, he learned the techniques of late-19th-century furniture making at a time when the vogue was for Victorian revival furniture, which was characterized by extensive ornamentation.

When Stickley Brothers foundered, Gustav partnered five years later with salesman Elgin Simonds to form a new firm, Stickley & Simonds, which produced traditional furniture that appealed to the burgeoning American middle class. The success of this venture enabled Stickley to travel to Europe, where he discovered the writings of John Ruskin and William Morris, the two preeminent thinkers of the British Arts and Crafts movement. Stickley also traveled to France, where the Art Nouveau movement impressed him with its imaginative designs and skilled craftsmanship.

Stickley parted ways with Simonds at the turn of the 20th century and decided to focus his creative energies on producing furniture in what became known as the Craftsman style, incorporating some of the elements of the designs and movements he had encountered in Europe.

The pieces Stickley created, which he stamped with the logo of a joiner’s compass, were rectilinear, largely free of ornament, made of oak, and built in such a way that the nature of their construction was plainly visible — all reflections of the tenets of the Arts and Crafts movement. While some people referred to Stickley’s furniture as Mission furniture — a term that references the furnishings of the Spanish missions in California — Gustav commonly called his work “Craftsman” owing to the inspiration he found in the British Arts and Crafts movement.

Stickley benches and rocking chairs were popular, and his leather-upholstered armchairs combine practicality, comfort and an understated silhouette. In 1901, Stickley launched The Craftsman magazine, which contained articles on all manner of domestic topics, from gardening and cooking to art and design, as well as poetry and fiction. In addition to popularizing Stickely’s own designs, the magazine acquainted Americans with the Arts and Crafts style in all its forms through its graphic design and the bungalows, art pottery, and hammered-copper lamps pictured in its pages. When Gustav Stickley died, in 1942, Arts and Crafts had been replaced by modernism as the favored aesthetic.

The work of L & J.G. Stickley flourished even as the Arts and Crafts style fell out of fashion because Leopold and John George adapted to the changing times.

L & J.G. Stickley changed their brand name and maker’s mark to Handcraft in 1906, and rather than continue to produce Arts & Crafts-inspired designs, their bedroom furnishings, dining room chairs and other items of the era reflected the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School style as well as the work of the Wiener Werkstätte. Later, Leopold’s Cherry Valley collection appealed to enthusiasts of American Colonial furniture. 

Find antique L & J.G. Stickley tables, seating, case pieces and more on 1stDibs.

Emerging in reaction to industrialization and mass production, the Arts and Crafts movement celebrated handcrafted design as a part of daily life. The history of Arts and Crafts furniture has roots in 1860s England with an emphasis on natural motifs and simple flourishes like mosaics and carvings. This work is characterized by plain construction that showcases the hand of the artisan.

The earliest American Arts and Crafts furniture dates back to the start of the 20th century. Designers working in this style in the United States initially looked to ideas put forth by The Craftsman, a magazine published by Wisconsin native Gustav Stickley, a furniture maker and founder of the Craftsman style. Stickley’s furniture was practical and largely free of ornament. His Craftsman style drew on French Art Nouveau as well as the work he encountered on his travels in England. There, the leading designers of the Arts and Crafts movement included William Morris, who revived historical techniques such as embroidery and printed fabrics in his furnishings, and Charles Voysey, whose minimal approach was in contrast to the ornamentation favored in the Victorian era.

American Arts and Crafts work would come to involve a range of influences unified by an elevation of traditional craftsmanship. The furniture was often built from sturdy woods like oak and mahogany while featuring details such as inlaid metal, tooled leather and ceramic tiles. The style in the United States was led by Stickley, whose clean-lined chairs and benches showcased the grain of the wood, and furniture maker Charles Rohlfs, who was informed by international influences like East Asian and French Art Nouveau design.

Hubs in America included several utopian communities such as Rose Valley in Pennsylvania and the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony in New York, where craftspeople made furniture that prioritized function over any decoration. Their work would influence designers and architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, who built some of the most elegant and iconic structures in the United States and likewise embraced a thoughtful use of materials in his furniture.

Find antique Arts and Crafts chairs, tables, cabinets and other authentic period furniture on 1stDibs.

Black leather, silk velvet cushions, breathable bouclé fabric — when shopping for antique or vintage sofas, today’s couch connoisseurs have much to choose from in terms of style and shape. But it wasn’t always thus. 

The sofa is typically defined as a long upholstered seat that features a back and arms and is intended for two or more people. While the term “couch” comes from the Old French couche, meaning to lie down, and sofa has Eastern origins, both are forms of divan, a Turkish word that means an elongated cushioned seat. Bench-like seating in Ancient Greece, which was padded with soft blankets, was called klinai. No matter how you spell it, sofa just means comfort, at least it does today.

In the early days of sofa design, upholstery consisted of horsehair or dried moss. Sofas that originated in countries such as France during the 17th century were more integral to decor than they were to comfort. Like most Baroque furnishings from the region, they frequently comprised heavy, gilded mahogany frames and were upholstered in floral Beauvais tapestry. Today, options abound when it comes to style and material, with authentic leather offerings and classy steel settees. Plush, velvet chesterfields represent the platonic ideal of coziness. 

Vladimir Kagan’s iconic sofa designs, such as the Crescent and the Serpentine — which, like the sectional sofas of the 1960s created by furniture makers such as Harvey Probber, are quite popular among mid-century modern furniture enthusiasts — showcase the spectrum of style available to modern consumers. Those looking to make a statement can turn to Studio 65’s lip-shaped Bocca sofa, which was inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí. Elsewhere, the furniture of the 1970s evokes an era when experimentation ruled, or at least provided a reason to break the rules. Just about every area of society felt a sudden urge to be wayward, to push boundaries — and buttons. Vintage leather sofas of that decade are characterized by a rare blending of the showy and organic.

With so many options, it’s important to explore and find the perfect furniture for your space. Paying attention to the lines of the cushions as well as the flow from the backrest into the arms is crucial to identifying a cohesive new piece for your home or office.

Fortunately, with styles from every era — and even round sofas — there’s a luxurious piece for every space. Deck out your living room with an Art Deco lounge or go retro with a nostalgic '80s design. No matter your sitting vision, the right piece is waiting for you in the expansive collection of unique sofas on 1stDibs.