Vintage Cherrywood Bookcase by Leopold Stickley, 1957
View Similar Items
Vintage Cherrywood Bookcase by Leopold Stickley, 1957
About the Item
- Creator:L. & J.G. Stickley Inc. (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 53.5 in (135.89 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 11 in (27.94 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1957
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good original condition.
- Seller Location:South Bend, IN
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU274537772253
L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.
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.
- Stickley Mission Oak Arts & Crafts Tall BookcaseBy L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.Located in South Bend, INA beautiful Mission or Arts & Crafts solid oak tall bookcase By L. & J.G. Stickley USA, 1990s Measures: 33.75"W x 14"D x 80"H. Excellent original vintage condition. Three shelve...Category
Late 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Bookcases
MaterialsOak
- Stickley Georgian Flame Mahogany Lighted Breakfront Bookcase CabinetBy L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.Located in South Bend, INA beautiful Georgian or Chippendale style lighted breakfront bookcase cabinet or dining cabinet By L. & J.G. Stickley USA, Circa 1980s Carved flame mahogany, with satinwood bandin...Category
Vintage 1980s American Georgian Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- Antique Stickley Style Arts and Crafts Solid Mahogany Double Bookcase, 1920sBy L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.Located in South Bend, INA gorgeous antique Arts & Crafts four-door double bookcase In the manner of Stickley USA, Circa 1920s Solid mahogany, with glass front doors, and original brass hardware. Measure...Category
Vintage 1920s American Arts and Crafts Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- Antique Stickley Style Arts and Crafts Solid Mahogany Double Bookcase, 1920sBy L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.Located in South Bend, INA gorgeous antique Arts & Crafts four-door double bookcase In the manner of Stickley USA, Circa 1920s Solid mahogany, with glass front doors, and original brass hardware. Measure...Category
Vintage 1920s American Arts and Crafts Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- Antique Stickley Style Arts and Crafts Solid Mahogany Double Bookcase, 1920sBy L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.Located in South Bend, INA gorgeous antique Arts & Crafts four-door double bookcase In the manner of Stickley USA, Circa 1920s Solid mahogany, with glass front doors, and original brass hardware. Cabinet ...Category
Vintage 1920s American Arts and Crafts Bookcases
MaterialsGlass, Mahogany
- Antique Stickley Style Arts and Crafts Solid Mahogany Double Bookcase, 1920sBy L. & J.G. Stickley Inc.Located in South Bend, INA gorgeous antique Arts & Crafts four-door double bookcase In the manner of Stickley USA, Circa 1920s Solid mahogany, with glass front doors, and original brass hardware. Measure...Category
Vintage 1920s American Arts and Crafts Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
- 41.5 Stickley Mission Collection BookcaseBy Gustav StickleyLocated in Pasadena, TXFrom the Stickley Mission Collection reissued in the 1990s. 2005 Cherry construction with 4 adjustable shelves. Stickley seal and brand. M...Category
Early 2000s North American Mission Bookcases
MaterialsCherry
- L & JG Stickley Single Door Oak BookcaseLocated in Dallas, TXL & LG Stickley Oak Bookcase. Circa 1910 A single 16 pane glass window door bookcase with mortise and tenon oak wood construction is wonderful condition with a beautiful finish ready to complete your arts and crafts Gustave Stickley collection. Dimensions: 54-3/4 x 34-1/4 x 12 inches (139 x 87 x 30.5 cm) (each) Provenance: Property from the Estate of Angela Gross Folk Condition: Very good condition with tasteful handmade quality of the Arts and Crafts movement. Minor nicks and losses to edges throughout. Minor splits. Paint on interior not original to bookcase tastefully done.. No chips or cracks to glass pane. Founded in 1900 by Leopold and John George Stickley, L. and J.G. Stickley, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of premium solid wood furniture. Privately owned by the Audi family since 1974, the company now operates a facility greater than 400,000 square feet in Manlius, New York, an upholstery plant in North Carolina, and six retail showrooms in New York and Connecticut. Stickley, then 41, returned home to Eastwood, New York, where he set up his Craftsman Shops in 1898 and began to experiment with his own distinctive designs. He favored clean lines and emphasized the inherent beauty of natural wood and leather. Like Morris, he sought inspiration in the styles of the medieval period. He worked in natural white oak because of its strength and "honesty." Rejecting ornamentation and valuing craftsmanship, he based his designs on rectilinear forms; construction features, such as mortise and tenon and dovetail joints, doubled as decoration. He labeled his original pieces with his name and shopmark, which depicted a small joiner's compass inset with the slogan "Als ik kan," or "To the best of my ability," in Flemish. Stickley's furniture--called Mission Oak because of the early 1900s popularity of California mission architecture and because it somewhat resembled the furniture used in the missions--soon found enthusiastic support. So, too, did Stickley's philosophy, which others embraced as visionary and reformist. Soon manufacturers across the country were creating their own versions of "mission" furniture. These included Stickley's own younger brothers: Leopold and John George, who incorporated in Fayetteville, New York, in 1904, and, in 1905, introduced their first furniture line alongside Gustav's Mission Oak at a Grand Rapids trade show; Albert Stickley, who made furniture under the label Stickley Brothers Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Charles Stickley, who shared ownership of Stickley and Brandt Chair Co. in Binghamton, New York. All of the Stickleys were accomplished craftsmen, who, like their older brother, were not opposed to machines; they simply used machinery to get the manufacturing process to the point where the hand could efficiently take over and complete the joinery. It was not industrialization per se that they rejected, but the sloppy work practices encouraged by mass production. In fact, Leopold and John George Stickley introduced some cutting edge designs and innovative construction techniques of their own with their Handcraft line. However, only Gustav Stickley attempted to market a lifestyle. Like his European counterparts, Gustav Stickley published on the subject of his philosophy of simplicity. He introduced his own magazine, The Craftsman, whose masthead announced its purpose as being "in the interest of better art, better work, and a better, more reasonable way of living," and filled it with treatises and illustrations of his furniture and interior design--every aspect of the designed environment, from tiles and pottery to gardens and landscape. He also developed and sold model house plans...Category
Vintage 1910s American Bookcases
MaterialsOak
- Solid Cherrywood Bookcase, Italy, circa 1950-1960Located in Saint-Ouen, FRSolid cherrywood bookcase, Italy, circa 1950-1960.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsCherry
- PAIR OF ViNTAGE CHERRYWOOD OPEN LIBRARY BOOKCASES WITH LOCKABLE CUPBOARD BASESLocated in GBRoyal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this pair of vintage solid Cherrywood open library bookcases with lockable cupboard bases Please note the ...Category
20th Century English Country Bookcases
MaterialsCherry
$4,036 Sale Price / set20% Off - Pair of 1940s Italian Cherrywood Doublesides Cabinets or BookcasesLocated in Sacile, PNPair of Italian cabinets or bookcase, natural cherrywood with black details. These pieces can be put in the center of a room as they are both double sides. One is completely resto...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Bookcases
MaterialsWood, Cherry
- Ilmari Tapiovaara bookcase for La Permanente Mobili Cantù, Italy ca. 1957By Ilmari Tapiovaara, La Permanente Mobili CantùLocated in Rotterdam, NLArchitectural bookcase by IImari Tapiovaara for La Permanente Mobili Cantù, Italy ca. 1957. Wonderful piece with a clean lines and refined functional details, nothing is overdone, re...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases
MaterialsNatural Fiber, Teak