Gustav Stickley (1858-1942)
two-door bookcase, #544
Eastwood, New York, circa 1901-1902
oak, copper
signed with red decal
62 1/2"w x 12 1/4"d x 56 1/4"h

Provenance:
Robert Skinner Gallery, 1982
Charles and Jane Kaufmann, 1982-1996
The Kaufmann Collection: The Early Furniture of Gustav Stickley, John Toomey Gallery, 1996
Private Collection
Treadway Toomey Auctions, 05 December 1999, Lot 263
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Literature:
A similar example is illustrated in Gray, Stephen, The Early Works of Gustav Stickley, Turn of the Century Editions, 1987, p. 97 (1902 Retail Plates).

Catalog Note:
The following was included in The Kaufmann Collection: The Early Furniture of Gustav Stickley, text by Thomas K. Maher:

This 62" version, with mitered mullions and v-board back, was used on five bookcases from 1901-1903. Later bookcases were reduced to 60" in width, and examples of Stickley bookcases from 1904 were produced with mitered mullions and a paneled back. This was a transitional compromise that was changed as then seen in the circa 1904-1906 bookcases with mullioned strips and paneled backs.

The original finish and the massive scale of the piece make this example the most important of Stickley's early bookcase designs. Three other examples are known with the later oval ring pull hardware.

One of the finest examples we have seen. Original finish. Two small water stains to top. One very small scratch to one mullion.

Biography:
Gustav Stickley was born in 1858 in Wisconsin to German immigrant parents. At age 12, he earned his journeyman's license in stonemasonry; at 17, he got a job in his uncle's chair factory, where he realized that he had a passion and aptitude for woodworking. Later he started his own furniture business, the Stickley Furniture Company, with his younger brothers, Charles and Albert. The chairs they created typically mark the origin of the Craftsman style, also known as Mission or Mission Oak style. Rather than produce machine-made, ornamental furniture like his contemporaries, Stickley sought a return to simplicity and hand-wrought pieces. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts ideas of British designer William Morris, Stickley endeavored to create furniture to fulfill a purpose or mission and insisted that products be of high quality, comfortable, and practical. To promote his design ethic and advertise his furniture, Stickley launched a magazine called The Craftsman (1901-1916). Among various topics, he wrote about the Morris chair he made to honor his biggest influence and published articles on building open-concept, light-filled bungalows. With clean, rectangular lines, Stickley furniture displays a sturdy, masculine style favoring oak. Although pieces are often large, their simplicity of design prevents them from appearing too bulky. True examples are usually identified by Stickley's shopmark, a joiner's compass with the words "Als ik Kan" (meaning "if I can"), and his signature. Some pieces have paper labels that identify Gustav Stickley's shop, which is not to be confused with that of his brothers Leopold and John George Stickley, who operated their own factory at the same time. Gustav Stickley died in 1942 in Syracuse, New York. During the latter part of the twentieth century, his Arts and Crafts furniture became quite popular again, achieving high results at auction and finding a home in the collections of various noteworthy museums.