242: GUSTAV STICKLEY, Rare and Early sideboard, model 961 < Early 20th Century Design, 19 January 2023 < Auctions

Early 20th Century Design

19 January 2023

Early 20th Century Design

242

Gustav Stickley
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Rare and Early sideboard, model 961

USA, c. 1902-03
oak, copper 49½ h × 70 w × 25¼ d in (126 × 178 × 64 cm)

estimate: $8,000–12,000

result: $12,600

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Sideboard features four drawers and two doors concealing one fixed shelf. Small red manufacturer's decal to reverse ‘Als Ik Kan Gustav Stickley’ with joiner's compass.
provenance: Collection of Anton Otto Fischer and Mary Ellen Sigsbee, Woodstock | Thence by descent | Rago, Early 20th Century Design, 19 January 2019, Lot 133 | Private Collection
literature: 1902 Retail Plates, manufacturer's catalog, unpaginated

This work will ship from Rago in Lambertville, New Jersey.

Anton Otto Fischer was a noted painter of seascapes, ships, and sailors who illustrated numerous books including Moby Dick and Treasure Island. Mary Ellen Sigsbee, one of four daughters of famed naval captain Charles D. Sigsbee, was a noted political cartoonist for suffrage, and worked with several of the leading figures in the suffrage movement. She and Anton bought their home in Woodstock, NY in the 1930s and among the many furnishings they purchased was the present lot.

Gustav Stickley 1858–1942

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Gustav Stickley, whose name is synonymous with Craftsman furniture, was a visionary American proponent for the Arts and Crafts philosophy in design, literature, and life. At the peak of his career, his furniture was sold throughout the country, Craftsman houses built in many areas, and The Craftsman magazine widely read. After bankruptcy in 1915, Stickley was largely forgotten until the 1970s, when his importance as a designer was rediscovered by a new generation.

The eldest son of first generation German immigrants, Stickley was born into a family that owned furniture-manufacturing businesses. He found inspiration in the writings of John Ruskin and William Morris and the well-built, hand-crafted furniture and the brotherhood of honest labor they espoused. In 1898 he established the Gustav Stickley Company in Eastwood, a suburb of Syracuse, New York. He adopted a William Morris motto, "Als ik kan" ("If I can") and used the symbol of a medieval joiner’s compass as his trademark.

Stickley’s furniture was a radical departure from the American furniture of the Victorian era. Surfaces were unadorned, mortise and tenon joinery and wood grain exposed. The hammered metal hardware underscored the artisanal look of furniture, which was fabricated both by hand and by contemporary woodworking machines.

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