Craftsman Piano
Item
Title
Craftsman Piano
Creator
Craftsman Workshops
Date
1903-09 (ca.)
Dimensions
59 1/2 x 51 1/8 x 25 3/8 inches
Medium
Oak, inlays, ivory, brass
Credit line
Collection of Drs. Cynthia and Timothy McGinn
Description
Advertised in The Craftsman as early as October 1903, and later featured in "What is Wrought in the Craftsman Workshops," this early inlaid piano has long been associated with architect and designer Harvey Ellis's brief tenure in Stickley's employ. The Ellis period marked a turn away from the massive proportions of Stickley's earliest Arts and Crafts work and an interest in the decorative opportunities offered by designs inlaid in colored woods, pewter, and copper. Described in an advertisement as "in the simple, structural style," the magazine noted that this piano, "is a pleasing contrast to the ordinary case which is unworthy artistically of the great possibilities of music contained within it."
The photographs published in The Craftsman in November 1911 show this piano in the Girls' Bedroom, and as it descended in Mildred Stickley's line of the family, there can be little doubt it was hers. Apparently a very musical family, this was one of two pianos in the Log House.
The photographs published in The Craftsman in November 1911 show this piano in the Girls' Bedroom, and as it descended in Mildred Stickley's line of the family, there can be little doubt it was hers. Apparently a very musical family, this was one of two pianos in the Log House.
Provenance
Gustav Stickley (by 1909); thence by descent.