Arts and Crafts Furniture
Arts and Crafts Furniture
Although Arts and Crafts furniture cannot be identified by a single style, its designers and makers, who were based mainly in Britain and the USA, shared the same priorities of simplicity in design, modest use of ornament, honesty in construction, and emphasis on the importance of the role of the individual artisan. In practice these ideals were translated into extremely well-made,
functional furniture, characteristically based on traditional designs, in which the construction itself was the most important decorative feature. Thus, Arts and Crafts furniture typically incorporated many highly traditional elements, such as exposed mortise-and-tenon joints, dovetailing, faceting and chamfering, and metalwork strap hinges.
William Morris
Architect, designer, painter, printer, socialist, and poet, Morris was strongly influenced by the ideas of both Ruskin, the art and social critic, and Pugin, the architect who spearheaded the Gothic Revival movement. In 1861 Morris and a group of like-minded friends, including Ford Madox Brown (1821-93) and the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82), set up the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in London. Early furniture designs by Philip Webb (1831-1915), an architect and close friend of Morris’s, were Neo-Gothic in style and clearly influenced by the furniture designs of Pugin and other Gothic-Revival architects including William Burger (1827-81) and Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906). Their expensive, collectable pieces were made by the London-based companies of J.G. Crace and Howard & Sons, and the Lancaster firm of Gillow (est. c.1730). From the 1850s to the 1870s these companies also made their own ranges of plain, simply constructed oak furniture.
William Morris
Architect, designer, painter, printer, socialist, and poet, Morris was strongly influenced by the ideas of both Ruskin, the art and social critic, and Pugin, the architect who spearheaded the Gothic Revival movement. In 1861 Morris and a group of like-minded friends, including Ford Madox Brown (1821-93) and the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82), set up the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in London. Early furniture designs by Philip Webb (1831-1915), an architect and close friend of Morris’s, were Neo-Gothic in style and clearly influenced by the furniture designs of Pugin and other Gothic-Revival architects including William Burger (1827-81) and Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906). Their expensive, collectable pieces were made by the London-based companies of J.G. Crace and Howard & Sons, and the Lancaster firm of Gillow (est. c.1730). From the 1850s to the 1870s these companies also made their own ranges of plain, simply constructed oak furniture.
V Cabinet-on-stand by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.
The form and decoration of this mahogany, oak, and pine piece reflect the medieval influences that inspired the early practitioners of the Arts and Crafts. Designed by Webb, with panels depicting the legend of
St George painted by Morris, it was made for the London International Exhibition of 1862. Such fine pieces are rarely found outside museums.
(1861-2, ht 96cmI37′12in, value Q)
William Morris
Architect, designer, painter, printer, socialist, and poet, Morris was strongly influenced by the ideas of both Ruskin, the art and social critic, and Pugin, the architect who spearheaded the Gothic Revival movement. In 1861 Morris and a group of like-minded friends, including Ford Madox Brown (1821-93) and the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82), set up the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in London. Early furniture designs by Philip Webb (1831-1915), an architect and close friend of Morris’s, were Neo-Gothic in style and clearly influenced by the furniture designs of Pugin and other Gothic-Revival architects including William Burger (1827-81) and Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906). Their expensive, collectable pieces were made by the London-based companies of J.G. Crace and Howard & Sons, and the Lancaster firm of Gillow (est. c.1730). From the 1850s to the 1870s these companies also made their own ranges of plain, simply constructed oak furniture.
doors and pierced carving.
• MATERIALS early designs were typically pically in ebonized wood; later designs are mostly in woods traditionally associated with country furniture such as oak andsh,
a although some were also made in mahogany; rush
seating is common on dining-chairs
• DESIGNS these are handcrafted and based largely on traditional country designs; most pieces are very sturdily made
• DECORATION joints and hinges used in construction play an important part in the decoration of a piece; many armchairs feature fabrics inspired by medieval designs, also by Morris
• COLLECTING all furniture made by Morris & Co. will be valuable and highly collectable; the finest pieces are found only in museums
Marks
Although many ‘ copies of the “Sussex” chair have been produced, any originals will be clearly marked – usually with a “Morris & Co.” stamp
Other British makers
Inspired by Morris, a succession of major designers embraced the Arts and Crafts style in Britain. Their interpretations, although varied, all focused on the same fundamental principles of craftsmanship and quality. An early influential figure was Edward William Godwin (1833-86), whose elegant, striking furniture sparked a trend for Japanese design that was to continue into the 1930s. Also notable were the host of medieval-style guilds based mostly in the Cotswolds, and the angular, architectural work of the Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). The production of furniture by commercial firms also helped to increase the accessibility of work in the Arts and Crafts style.
THE AESTHETIC MOVEMENT
The Aesthetic Movement, influenced by stark,
unadorned Japanese designs in dark woods and elegant, minimally decorated forms, overlapped with Arts and Crafts both in the ebonized furniture produced by Morris & Co. and in the simple, elegant, Japanese-influenced furniture designed by Godwin. The latter, an architect and designer, was an early pioneer of the Arts and Crafts total design ethic, in which the building, interior decoration, and fittings would all reflect a single ideal. From 1865 he designed furniture for his own architectural practice but after 1870 he was far more Successful as a designer of furniture than of buildings. Simplicity, elegance, and refined proportions are the hallmarks of Godwin’s exclusive, ebonized wood furniture. Decoration is minimal: moulding and carving are virtually eliminated and are replaced with inset panels of embossed Japanese paper, or sometimes with painted or stencilled symmetrical decoration of stylized geometric designs. Godwin’s designs were produced by such notable London cabinet-makers as William Wyatt, John Gregory (.race (1809-89), and the firm of Collinson & Lock (est. 1870).
GUILDS AND WORKSHOPS
In the 1880s a large number of Arts and Crafts organizations sprang up in London, with the aims of breaking down the hierarchy between fine and applied art and fostering the ideal of the artist/ craftsman. The Century Guild (est. 1882), headed by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851-1942), the Art Workers’ Guild (est. 1884), the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society v (est. 1888), and the Guild of Handicraft (est. 1888), set up in London’s East End by Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942), brought together the growing number of talented Arts and Crafts furniture designers.
Ernest Gimson (1864-1919), William Lethaby (1857-1931), and Sidney Barnsley (1865-1926) were among the founders of the short-lived
Kenton & Co. (1890-92), a London-based furniture company that used professional cabinet-makers to make mahogany and oak furniture. After the demise of Kenton & Co. in 1892, Gimson and Barnsley, along with Barnsley’s brother Ernest Barnsley ( 1863-1926), set up a new workshop in the Cotswolds, south-west England. Gimson’s designs, featuring exposed pins and joints, and exploiting the natural colour and markings of the wood, were finely executed by carefully trained craftsmen in such local woods as ash, oak, elm, and fruitwoods. Gimson’s pieces include rush-seated ladder-back chairs and plain oak furniture, as well as more elaborate cabinets featuring fruitwood, holly, mother-of-pearl, shell, and ivory inlay. After Gimson’s death,
his foreman Peter Waals still worked to Gimson’s designs and in 1920 set up his own workshop in Chalford.
The Guild of Handicraft moved to the Cotswolds in 1902, producing furniture to designs by Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941) and Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (1865-1945). The last in the line of the Cotswold School was Gordon Russell (1892-1980), whose work bridged the gap between the one-off, handmade pieces of Gimson and Barnsley and the need for functional, well-designed, affordable furniture for a mass market.
The Omega Workshops ( 1913-19), in Bloomsbury, London, established by Roger Fry ( 1866-1934), was the last of the Arts and Crafts groups. Superficially the group closely resembled the original Morris company, but it celebrated amateur craft skills and was more interested in aesthetics than social reform. Omega furniture to designs by Fry, Duncan Grant (1885-1978), and Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) was made by local cabinet-makers and then painted by Bell, Grant, and many others.
IMPORTANT DESIGNERS
Voysey, one of the most innovative Arts and Crafts furniture designers, never established his own workshop; his designs were produced not only by craftsmen such as William Hall, who had worked for Kenton & Co., but also by commercial cabinet-makers and such piano-makers as Bechstein. From 0.1895 Voysey produced designs that were simple, elegant, abstract, and stylized, relying heavily on the innate beauty of the wood. Stained oak, large metal strap hinges, and exaggerated, often tapering vertical supports were features popular with Voysey, among other designers, although they had originally been used by Mackmurdo. Other common features (by no means exclusive to Voysey) are heart-shaped decorative motifs and rush chair-seats.
The same stylish simplicity can be found in
the furniture of Baillie Scott, who was strongly influenced by Voysey. His simple, box-like furniture was mass-produced by the firm of J.P White, Bedford, while his other, more complex designs were produced by Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft. Most of Baillie Scott’s furniture is in oak or inlaid mahogany, with the colour and grain of the wood providing the main decoration.
The two most famous Scottish interpreters of Arts and Crafts furniture were George Walton (1867-1933) and Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), both based in Glasgow. Walton set up a design and decorating business in 1888, and in 1896 was commissioned for the overall interior design of the Glasgow Buchanan Street Tea Room, for which Mackintosh provided some of the interior decoration. Walton’s highly collectable chairs for Buchanan Street were based on a traditional Scottish design, with a narrow back featuring a pierced heart-shaped motif, curving arms, and a rush seat. Other chair designs by Walton are more elegant and typically have narrow tapering, outwardly curving legs. Mackintosh designed
distinctive high-backed chairs with elliptical panels for the Dutch Kitchen extension that was added to the Argyle Street Tea Rooms (also in Glasgow) in 1906; for the Willow Street Tea Rooms he produced a side-chair in ebonized oak with a rush scat (1903).
COMMERCIAL FIRMS
Far less expensive than the exclusive pieces by the major Arts and Crafts designers was the furniture producedby
commercial companies. Liberty & Co., which opened in Regent Street, London, in May 1875, was a staunch supporter of the Aesthetic Movement and also produced and sold a wide range of Arts and Crafts furniture. Ambrose Heal (1872-1959) exhibited regularly at the Arts and Crafts exhibitions in London, and from 1897 his London-based firm of Heal & Son (est. 1800) sold furniture made to his designs, which were strongly influenced by the Cotswold School. Other well-known commercial manufacturers include Timms & Webb and Wylie & Lochhead, both in Glasgow, the firm of John Sollie Henry in London, and the Dryad Works (est. 1907) in Leicester, which specialized in the manufacture of cane and wicker furniture.
The Aesthetic Movement
• MATERIALS most pieces are in dark, ebonized woods
• DESIGNS elegant, simple forms with a strong Japanese influence are typical; many of Godwin’s designs feature a central cruciform block with radiating stretchers
• COLLECTING all pieces by Godwin are rare and highly sought after; the value of pieces in ebonizedwood will depend on the condition, as ebonized furniture is difficult to restore; an original finish in good condition is critical for maximum value
Marks
Godwin’s pieces arc never- marked; attribution is usually based on the style of his few surviving design sketches
Guilds and workshops
• MATERIALS oak is the most typical but other local woods such as elm, ash, and frunwoods were also used
• DESIGNS most pieces are plain in design; decoration is mainly limited to the effect of the wood’s natural grain and colour and the construction of joints
• COLLECTING the superb quality and workmanship of pieces by either Unison or Barnsley will be matched by correspondingly high prices
Important designers
• MATERIALS Voysey: oak is typical of his work
• DESIGNS Voysey: furniture is characteristically of traditional design, often with heart-shaped decoration, long tapering verticals, and rush seating; Baillie Scott: most of his pieces have simple, unadorned, boxy forms; Mackintosh: tall, geometric forms, reflecting his training as an architect, arc characteristic
• COLLECTING pieces by well-known makers will be sought after by collectors; all of Mackintosh’s work is extremely highly priced and valuable
Commercial firms
• -MATERIALS pieces by Liberty & Co. were usually in oak; most pieces by Heal & Son were in oak, with versions also available in mahogany and chestnut
• COLLECTING commercially produced furniture will be more affordable than pieces by leading designers
Marks
Liberty pieces arc marked simply “Liberty & Co.”
The majority of American Arts and Crafts furniture produced between the 1890s and the 1920s is of oak and made by or in the style of one of several members of the Stickley family. Such
furniture is commonly referred to as “Mission oak”, although this term, which suggests a
stylistic influence of the early mission churches of the American Southwest, is misleading.
THE STICKLEY FAMILY
Gustav Stickley (1857-1942) was the eldest of six brothers, most of whom worked in the furniture trade. He trained as an architect and designer and in 1898
established the Gustav Stickley Co. in Eastwood, New York State. In 1900 he introduced his “Craftsman” furniture range, the majority of which is of heavy, solid construction in American white oak.
Production of Craftsman furniture continued until 1915. From 1901 Stickley produced a magazine called The Craftsman, in which examples of his work were shown. Although many Stickley forms, including high-backed settles, stools, and trestle tables, show the influence of 17th-century colonial furniture in their style and use of traditional joinery, the most valuable examples of his work are those that are innovative and more modern in design. Typical forms include both horizontal and vertical slat-back chairs (including rocking-chairs and “Morris” chairs, which were based on the upholstered reclining chair by the British Arts and Crafts designer William Morris), benches, dining-, writing-, and library-tables, fall-front desks, sideboards, bookcases, magazine and umbrella stands, and mirrors. Spindle-sided and spindle-backed chairs in Modernist taste were produced from 1905, perhaps inspired by the furniture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1956) in 1904 for Darwin House, near Buffalo, New York State; this style of Stickley furniture is keenly sought after by collectors.
The oak that Stickley used for his furniture was fumed for preservation, a process that imparted a warm patination, which he described as a “friendly” finish. The subtlety and originality of colour and patina of his wood is important when assessing value, as is rarity of design. Upholstery is typically in green or brown leather and although original upholstery is preferable, pieces that have been well re-upholstered are still popular with
collectors. Most Stickley furniture is in very good condition owing to its sturdy construction and strong, well-reinforced joints.
Albert Stickley and John George Stickle), (1871-1921), operating as the Stickley Brothers Co. from (.1890 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, produced furniture in a style similar to that of their brother. Some of their work is marked “Quaint Furniture” but it is not greatly
appreciated by collectors. In 1900 Leopold Stickley (1869-1957) left Gustav’s Eastwood workshop to establish with John George the firm of L. & J.G. Stickle (known from (.1904 as the Onondaga Shops and from 1906 as Handcraft) in Fayetteville, New York State. Designs include settles, spindle chairs, serving-tables, and bookcases, and are typically produced in carefully finished oak. Upholstery is usually in leather, sometimes fastened with round-headed tacks. Hand-hammered copper hardware is characteristic on furniture in the “Handcraft” range. Better furniture by the brothers compares in quality to the less startling Craftsman pieces by Gustav and, being more widely available than these sought-after designs, has a strong following.
CHARLES ROHLFS, GREENE AND GREENE, AND THE ROYCROFT FURNITURE SHOP
Charles Rohlfs (1853-1936), a successful cabinet-maker in Buffalo, New York State, from (.1890 until the mid-1920s, employed a team of eight craftsmen to execute his furniture designs. Rohlfs participated in the 1902 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin, Italy, and the influence of Art Nouveau is evident in his use of carved or cut-out tendrils. Forms include desks, chairs, small tables, and storage pieces, some with carved Gothic lettering and a signature. The oak used for Rohlfs’s pieces is relatively pale compared to the wood used for most American Arts and Crafts furniture. Rohlfs’s work is less pure in design than that of Gustav Stickley, but its rarity and high standards of craftsmanship make it extremely popular with collectors.
The brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868-1957) and Henry Mather Greene (1870-1954) operated to commission in Pasadena, California, in the early 20th century, and their furniture combined high-quality Arts and Crafts workmanship with simple, Chinese-inspired designs in mother-of-pearl or metal inlay. Hardwoods, including teak and ebony, often subtly carved with Oriental motifs, are characteristic. Joinery is usually by squared, ebony pegs. Some of the brothers’ work was produced by the furniture-maker John Hall; these pieces are very rare and considered the most finely executed of all American Arts and Crafts work.
The Roycrofters were an idealistic Arts and Crafts community founded in 1895 in East Aurora, New York State, by Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915). Hubbard, who has been called the “American William Morris”, produced furniture from c.1901 in the Roycroft Furniture Shop. Roycroft pieces are always in oak, of solid, heavy construction, and normally have a warm, nut-brown patina. Forms are extremely plain and simple and sometimes incorporate hammered copper hardware.
OTHER ARTS AND CRAFTS FURNITURE
It is widely agreed that the best work of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright was that produced during the first decade of the 20th century, when he worked principally as a residential architect in the Midwest. His furniture was produced mostly in oak in a style that blended American Arts and Crafts designs and ideals with European progressive Modernism. Most of Wright’s pieces were produced for architectural commissions and rarely come up for sale; prices are still among the highest of all American furniture from this period.
The architectural design firm of Purcell, Feick & Elmslie, near Chicago, produced furniture to commission in pale oak, mahogany, brass, and copper between c.1906 and 1922. After the work of Wright, the designs of George Grant Elmslie (1871-1952) and William Gray Purcell ( 1880-1965) are considered the most progressive of all American Arts and Crafts pieces. Tall, architectural forms with spindling, inlay, and carved details are typical and reflect the strong influence of the Glasgow School and the Vienna Secession. Purcell, Feick & Elmslie furniture is rare, particularly outside the Midwestern states, where it is most keenly collected.
The Furniture Shop was founded in San Francisco in 1906 by Arthur Mathews (1860-1945) and his wife Lucia Mathews (1867-1956). Unlike most American Arts and Crafts furniture, their work was painted in polychrome and gilded, or mounted with polychromed, embossed leather. Carved oak or mahogany is typical in forms evocative of medieval France and Germany. Images include troubadours or medieval saints, together with romantic Californian landscapes painted by Lucia. Output from the Furniture Shop was modest, but small
items sometimes appear on the
market. The style is referred to
as “California Decorative” and
objects are of lesser appeal to most
collectors than the purely designed
work of the East Coast craftsmen.
Charles P. Limbert (1902-44)
produced oak furniture in New
Holland, near Grand Rapids,
Michigan, in the early 20th century.
Forms can be compared to those
of Gustav Stickley, but many show
the direct influence of the Scottish
designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh
(1868-1928) and the Glasgow
School. Pieces are commonly
of pale oak and crafted to a high
standard and most are marked
with a large brand featuring a
craftsman at work. Prices are
comparable to those commanded
by Roycroft designs.
The Stickley Family
• FORMS designs are simple, geometric, and very solid; typically larger and bulkier than European counterparts
• WOOD white American oak, often quarter sawn, is typical, as is a reddish or grey tone achieved by fuming the wood in ammonia; some pieces may appear faded
• HARDWARE Most features a hand-hammered surface
• COLLECTING Gustav’s work is rare outside the USA; all forms are recorded in The Craftsman magazine; the work of L. & J.G. Stickley is most common
Marks
Gustav Stickley: pieces are usually inscribed “Als ik kan” (Flemish, “As I can”), after the Antwerp art society of that name, in a joiner’s compass, and signed beneath
Charles Rohlfs
• DECORATION carved or cut-out whiplashes are usual
• COLLECTING his fine-quality work is very sought after
Greene and Greene
• DECORATION Oriental designs in metal and mother-of pearl inlay are characteristic; visible dark pegs – often in ebony – may feature as decoration
• COLLECTING their work is extremely rare and very desirable; designs are unsigned but well documented
The Roycroft Furniture Shop
• FORMS most are rectilinear designs with strong proportions; many feature a distinctive tapered leg terminating in a bulbous foot
• DECORATION this is limited to hand-wrought iron or copper hardware
Frank Lloyd Wright
• FORMS most are rectilinear, with a vertical emphasis
• CONSTRUCTION complex and innovative; spindling is common on seat furniture and tables
The Furniture Shop
• DECORATION embellishment is mainly restricted to polychrome paintwork and embossed leather
• COLLECTING the output was relatively small; pieces are less desirable than the work of the East Coast designers
Charles R Limbert
• COLLECTING interest in his high-quality work is growing following an exhibition in New York in 1995