"Mr. Stickley's Lighting" Exhibition at the 25th Annual Arts & Crafts Conference.

At this year’s Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference, the Stickley Museum introduced the 5th installment in our “Mr. Stickley” exhibition series: “Mr. Stickley’s Lighting.” The series continues to examine different aspects of Gustav Stickley’s career, and this year’s focus on lighting is one of the most popular!

We began with an exhibition in the Great Hall of the Grove Park Inn for the duration of the conference. Although space limitations meant the exhibition was not comprehensive, it included a wide variety of examples of Stickley’s lighting in the form of lamps, lanterns, sconces, and candlesticks, using a variety of different materials including wood, pottery, hammered copper, brass, and iron. Lampshades made of wicker, split bamboo, silk, linen, and glass also helped to fully illustrate Stickley’s approach to lighting design.

On Saturday night of the conference, trustees Mark Weaver and Pete Mars led a small group discussion that was attended by 67 people! The discussion related Stickley’s lighting designs to its historical and cultural context – lighting in American homes in the early part of the 20th century and the psychological and esthetic impact of interior electric lighting at that time. Of course, you can’t talk about early electricity without mentioning Thomas Edison, the man who brought us the electric light bulb. Interestingly both his labs in Menlo Park and his home in Llewellyn Park were reasonably close to Stickley’s Craftsman Farms.

Twilight Tour

We continued to explore Mr. Stickley’s lighting with “An Electric Evening” on Sunday, March 4.  The evening began with the return of Pete Mars’ Twilight Tour. This tour gave participants a glimpse of evening life during the time the Stickleys were in residence at the Log House. Pete further explored the development of electric lighting within the context of Craftsman Farms, and illuminated the features of the Log House design that shine most beautifully in the evening light. Anyone who has had the chance to visit the Log House knows that, although quite dimly lit, the soft glow created by the amber glass and copper lanterns does give one a distinct feeling of warmth and calm.

Mark Weaver lectures on Mr. Stickley's Lighting during "An Electric Evening."

Following the tour, Mark Weaver’s “Mr. Stickley’s Lighting” lecture shed some additional light on Stickley’s approach to developing his domestic lighting fixtures. For example, Stickley used lampshades as both the means to achieve a desired lighting effect and as a prominent design feature in a room. He favored Japanese wicker shades of split bamboo or willow lined with heavy Habutai silk in soft rich shades of red, green, dull yellow, or orange.  Domestic light came from a variety of fuel sources. As seen in the Log House, electricity, oil, candles, and denatured alcohol – or ethanol – were all used in lighting at the time.

For further reading, the exhibition catalogue – “Mr. Stickley’s Lighting” – is available for purchase on our website.

And be sure to check out this great video with clips from Pete’s tour!  Many thanks to David Lowden for the video.

Twilight Tour of The Stickley Museum led by Pete Mars.

It’s Electric! is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

An object on loan to us may spend months or even years on view.  But eventually all good things must come to an end.  These objects in time may leave the museum and return to their owners where they will be cherished and enjoyed in a different setting.  Such is the case with the hexagonal library table, a Stickley piece – similar in design to the table originally in the home – that has been on view in the living room of the Log House for the past few years.

We were fortunate to have the table for as long as we did, but soon enough it will be on its way back to Bill and Patsy Porter.  But not to worry.  Thanks to the generosity of Stephen Gray, a “new” hex table has already taken its place.

Wednesday afternoon this newly loaned hexagonal library table arrived at the Farms after a long journey.   Ensuring the safety of an object during travel is always the top priority in these circumstances.  An object in transit can face any number of unpredictable mishaps.  So, to best avoid any bumps and bruises along the way, the table had been generously cushioned with moving blankets, secured in place, and of course, handled with great care.  Upon arrival, handlers carefully unloaded the table onto the porch of the Log House where it was unpacked and examined for damage by the chair of the museum’s collections committee.  Finding none, the table was situated in the living room and interpreted to reflect the documented appearance of the space in 1911.  Fortunately, our precious cargo had been carefully transported and arrived unscathed!

With almost identical dimensions to the previous table, this is an early, rare Stickley hexagonal oak library table from 1901, withthe original leather top.  It was featured in the noted Wadsworth Athenium exhibition, At Home With Gustav Stickley: Arts & Crafts From the Stephen Gray Collection. The exhibition ran from October 11, 2008 to January 4, 2009. The table is illustrated in the exhibition catalog on page 53 and can also be seen behind Mr. Gray in a photo on page 10.

The new hex table is now on view in the Living Room of theLog House.  The previous table has been temporarily relocated to the dining room until its departure from the Farms at the end of the month, offering visitors the rare opportunity to personally compare the construction and design of the two tables.

Library Table #410, c. 1901
Oak, leather
Gustav Stickley
Eastwood NY
30” x 48”

Can you Spot the Differences? is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

Did you think everything gets quiet here when winter comes and we are only open on weekends?  You’d be surprised! Yes, of course we are still open for group tours and scout programs — but the Log House has been bustling with activity all week.  Volunteers are busily decorating for our annual Holiday Open House, taking place on the first two weekends in December.   During this event, the Log House will be decked out for the holidays in period style and with a focus on Stickley’s own ideas.  Utilizing holiday greens, pinecones, and the home’s forest palette, the decorations will bring nature indoors and spotlight the Arts and Crafts movement’s emphasis on finding beauty in simplicity and in simple materials.

For Stickley, a rich family life was a key part of his Arts and Crafts ideas, and this event addresses his values by providing a peek into Christmas preparations that would have been typical for a family like the Stickleys, including blending Victorian traditions — like making treat-bearing cornucopia and giving handmade gifts–with more modern trends. One vignette imagines Mrs. Stickley preparing to wrap a kimono, a fashionable gift–as was anything related to Japanese culture–for ladies at the time. The Christmas tree itself is a blend of Victorian and modern times, as it is wrapped with a short string of electric lights, which were the latest thing and quite expensive, but in a nod to custom, the tree also includes candles, which were traditional and still the most popular method for lighting a Christmas tree.

While celebrating the holidays, the Holiday Open House is also meant to provide respite during a hectic time of the year. On the porch of the Log House visitors will be invited to relax and enjoy hot cider and cookies, perhaps take a minute to work on a jigsaw puzzle or send holiday greeting to a friend.

 Join us for the Holiday Open House December 3-4 and 10-11 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Or come for a sneak peek at the holiday décor during our annual trunk show, which opens at 11 a.m. on Black Friday, November 25.

What’s Behind the Closed Doors? is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

Oil lamp as it appeared in "the Craftsman" magazine 100 years ago.

One of the rare objects on view right now is the Grueby oil lamp that we believe was original to the Log House. The oil lamp must have been a favorite of Gustav Stickley. It appears in several times in The Craftsman magazine photos of the Log House (see one photo above), and is shown in more than one location. The vase base was donated to the Stickley Museum in 2007 by Stickley great-granddaughter Barbara Fuldner, but it has not been on view until now.

It is now fully restored to its original appearance, thanks to later donations of a burner, font, brass lampshade supports, glass chimney, and a wicker lampshade. Sometimes called Japanese brown wicker and sometimes called Japanese split bamboo, lampshades such as this one were made in Japan and sold by Stickley. They are shown in Chips from the Craftsman Workshop from 1906. The shade is lined with Habutai silk, just as it was in Stickley’s day. This newer lining is stained with tea to give it the original appearance.

The brass font and Bradley & Hubbard duplex burner are real treasures. Stickley seemed to like these burners which feature two wicks. A talented craftsman made the brass shade-holder (the wire frame that sits on the burner and holds the shade in place) for us based on an original one found at Crab Tree Farm in Illinois.

Both this original oil lamp and the reproduction oil lamp are on view at this time and they make for an interesting comparison.

Oil lamp on table as it appears today

2007.02.01 Grueby Lamp Base
Grueby Faience Company oil lamp base believed to be original to Craftsman Farms.
c.1910
Gift of Barbara Fuldner

2011.17 Lampshade and Burner
Split bamboo shade, imported from Japan.
Bradley & Hubbard Duplex Burner
c. 1907
Gift of Bettina and Joe Gleason

Original Oil Lamp on View is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

What great news! Saturday’s gala raised over $100,000 for the day-to-day operations of the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms. Many thanks to photographer Mike Peters for these gala images of some of the wonderful people who made that success possible.

Catch the Spark Gala: Oh What a Night! is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

Dr. Jonathan Clancy will speak at our Forging Ahead Forum on Saturday, October 15 at Mountain Lakes Community Church. His talk, entitled Forging a Useable Past: Scholars, Scholarship, and the Arts and Crafts, will consider the potential for scholarship to inform the present as it illuminates the past. His presentation will include information about the Emerging Scholars Symposium. This annual conference, launched in 2011, is devoted to the work of up-and-coming scholars and is a collaboration between Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms. Clancy will discuss the objectives of the conference and its direction for 2012.

Dr. Jonathan Clancy is Director of the American Fine and Decorative Arts Program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. His publications include The Beauty of Common Things: American Art Pottery from the Two Red Roses Foundation (2008), Warman’s Rookwood Pottery (2008), and numerous articles in journals such as Modern Craft, The Journal of Design History, and Style 1900. His recent work has spanned a variety of subjects including: John Singleton Copley’s Watson and the Shark, Martin Johnson Heade’s early career, and Gustav Stickley’s metal wares. At present, he is directing a cataloging project for the paintings at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, Rhode Island.

Dr. Jonathan Clancy to Speak About Arts & Crafts Scholarship is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

The piano lamp is back in place, bringing a warm glow to the living room. It had been removed as part of a massive structural engineering project begun in January of 2011 but was returned to its rightful place today.

Member and friend Michael Lehr purchased it from someone who originally bought it 20-30 years ago in New Jersey. “It might be the one from The Farms, but I am not sure.”Michael says, “I knew when I purchased it, there were only two or three known examples. If I didn’t arrange for The Farms to have this one, they would probably never get one.” So he donated it to The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms nearly nine years ago.

The chandelier had been neglected over the decades and was missing its canopy and chain, and was also missing any lighting components (oil font). The patina was in poor condition with corrosion on copper as well as an overall dullness. The iron hooks and banding were rusty. The material used for the panels had been replaced with a paper material that did not allow any light through the cut-outs. There were not very many lengths of the small decorative chain hanging around the fixture. And of course, it was a bit out of shape and no longer really round. The chandelier was sent to Aurora Studios in the fall of 2002 for a complete restoration. The good news was that the patina could be restored. Often, original patinas are either long gone (sometimes polished) or irreversibly damaged. Dawn Hopkins and Michael Adams of Aurora Studios were able to remove the corrosion, enhance the original patina and restore the iron work. The main problem was the missing canopy. Because the fixture hung from around log, the curve appeared to be accommodated with what they referred to as a “can” with a more typical Gustav canopy attached to it. They visited the Farms and did some profile measurements to properly fit the canopy to the log and then fabricated a canopy with a similar “can” shape.

They had one rather fuzzy photograph of the original piano fixture for reference. Fortunately, there were other references to use to fabricate the proper chain the fixture hung from and the small decorative chain around the perimeter of the fixture. They replicated the original Gustav hardware that attaches the chain to the canopy and also made new panels of mica to finish the main body of the fixture.

There was one more delay in the Farms receiving the fixture. It languished at the studio for some time waiting for an original oil font to be found. Although there were many people looking for one, it did not materialize. The decision was made for the studio to fabricate a hammered wiring assembly that would mimic a font with the glass hurricane. At last, when the lamp was ready, Board member Dave Rudd picked it up from the studio and then drove more than four hours to personally assure its safe delivery to the Museum, where it was installed in the winter of 2009.

During the recent structural repairs on the staircase and foundation the lamp was removed and carefully stored in the collection room. After nine months it has now been reinstalled in its place of honor over the piano where it graces the living room with its cozy glow.

If you’d like to learn more about it, be sure to be here on Sunday, October 16, when Dawn Hopkins and Michael Adams will be here to answer questions and demonstrate their craft as part of Catch the Spark weekend.

Piano Lamp is Back in Place is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

A rare 1902 tall case clock which was original to the Log House is now on view in the Log House living room. This very same clock was pictured in historic photos of the Log House that were printed in The Craftsman magazine. After the Stickley family left Craftsman Farms, the clock was among the items purchased by the Farny family. It has been in their family ever since. Farny descendent, Peter Wood, has graciously loaned it to the Stickley Museum as part of the centennial celebration.

Very few of this model clocks were ever made and only a handful of them are known to exist today. This one still has a perfect original surface as well as the original fabric in its back door.

The clock is a cottagey design, with beautiful proportions and a gentle tapering case design. It is constructed of quarter sawn white oak and has a chamfered board back. In the soft light of the Log House living room, you can see the gentle waviness of the vintage glass in the front door.

Its brass clock face is positioned a bit lower than one would expect to allow the average person to look directly at the face (and admire its handsome copper numbers!) The numbers are held in place by copper wires that are attached to the number backs, threaded through the brass face, and bent in place behind the face.

The movement is a “Seth Thomas trapezoidal movement” (referring to the shape of the movements plates) and has a firm deliberate tick tock—loud enough to be heard throughout the living room. It chimes on the hour and half hour, with a deep beautiful resonating gong sound.

It’s a joy to see it standing where it stood 100 years ago!

Original Clock Returns to Craftsman Farms is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

Join us in a lively old-fashioned harvest celebration which honors the time when Craftsman Farms was a fully-functioning farm. Now in it’s 5th year, Fall Family Day is the Museum’s biggest and best-loved family program. Bring a blanket to picnic on the grounds and take in the colorful autumn beauty of Craftsman Farms. Enjoy a hayride. Try old-fashioned cider pressing. Watch or try your hand at woodworking, pottery and other handicrafts. Enjoy live music when you try “Square Dancing with Sue.” In between square dances, enjoy the classic fun-filled group game “Simon Says.”

Pumpkin painting will be a part of this exciting afternoon, with all children invited to pick and paint a pumpkin to take home. Fall Family Day wouldn’t be complete without the ever-popular Balloon Cow Craft or old-fashioned children’s carnival-style games, like rubber duckie ring toss, and sack and 3-legged races.

Delicious goodies, including apple cider, cider doughnuts, and a variety of tasty boxed lunches will be on sale from Apple Spice Junction. Visitors will also want to check in at the Museum’s General Store, which will sell a variety of souvenir and sundries.

The event will also feature an Open House at the Stickley Museum, which was the Stickley family home and was designed by Stickley to be the centerpiece of Craftsman Farms.

Fall Family Day is made possible by a generous grant from the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany Foundation.

When?
Saturday, September 24 from noon to 4 p.m.

Where?
On the grounds of Craftsman Farms

How Much?
$5 for Member Children and $7 for Non-member children
Adult admission is $7.
To defray the cost for entire families, adults accompanying children are admitted free.

More info?Call 973-540-0311

September 24 Fall Family Day to be the Best Yet! is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms

View of North Cottage interior

In addition to enjoying the lovely brunch, you will have the opportunity to mingle with other like minded-souls who appreciate the simple beauty of the Craftsman bungalow style.  Wander through at your own pace exploring one of the first structures built at Craftsman Farms.  Enjoy the charming furnishings, including the Wiley collection.  This grouping of nine period pieces was donated by Stephen Wiley in 2009 and includes Stickley settle #208, Stickley Morris chair #369; Stickley stool #300; Stickley library table #615; Stickley bookcase #718; two Stickley 1/2 v-back arm chairs #354; an L&JG table #599; and an L&JG table #558.

View of North Cottage interior

The cottage has recently undergone an interior refurbishment as well as a complete restoration of the red slate roof, copper gutters and downspouts, rafter tails, and reinstallation of the original Ludowici roof ridge tiles.  Fundraising is now underway to restore the original windows, which are currently stored for their protection. 

Due to the need to protect the cottage from wear and tear, only a limited number of tickets are available.

Purchase tickets here:

Non-Members $35.00 Members $25.00

A Unique Opportunity: Brunch in the North Cottage! is a post from The Stickley Museum At Craftsman Farms