248: GUSTAV STICKLEY, Rare sideboard and china cabinets from the Charles B. Evans House, Queens < Early 20th Century Design, 19 January 2023 < Auctions

Early 20th Century Design

19 January 2023

Early 20th Century Design

248

Gustav Stickley
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Rare sideboard and china cabinets from the Charles B. Evans House, Queens

USA, c. 1914
oak, glass, hammered copper, leading 58¼ h × 109 w × 22½ d in (148 × 277 × 57 cm)

estimate: $20,000–30,000

result: $12,600

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Sideboard features five drawers and two doors concealing two removable shelves; cabinets each feature two doors concealing three adjustable shelves. Branded manufacturer's mark to reverse of one cabinet ‘Stickley’ with joiners compass. Paper manufacturer's label to reverse of each cabinet and underside of one drawer ‘Craftsman Stickley’ with joiner's compass.
provenance: Charles B. Evans House, Queens
literature: Stickley's Craftsman Homes: Plans, Drawings, Photographs, Stubblebine, ppg. 265, 492 discuss the commission

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

A Craftsman Home in Queens

Charles B. Evans commissioned a Craftsman-style home from Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Architects in 1914. The exterior was completed with stucco and brick trim and the layout was adapted from a 1908 floor plan, adding a den/porch off the living room, making the kitchen larger, and reducing the dining room's size. Lots 243, 247, 248, 250, 253, and 316 are original to the home and are being offered for sale for the first time since their acquisition by Evans.

Charles B. Evans house, Queens, New York. Photo courtesy of Ray Stubblebine.

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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