Piano Bench (no. 160)
Item
Title
Piano Bench (no. 160)
Creator
United Crafts
Date
1900-04 (ca.)
Dimensions
20 x 35 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches (approx.)
Medium
Oak or Mahogany
Description
When we think of Stickley, it is rare that we associate carved and pierced forms with his work, focusing instead on the solid, massive Arts and Crafts productions that dominated his productions from about 1901 to 1915. Yet, even as he began to forge a different path that culminated with the issuing of "New Furniture from the Workshop of Gustave Stickley" in 1900, his transformation to the "simple, structural style" (as he termed it) was not overnight. The "New Furniture" catalog reads in hindsight as a transitional document, that demonstrates a tentative step towards design reform in which he is unwilling to abandon any notion of decoration altogether. Though this piano bench was only illustrated for sale in this catalog, sales journals and factory inventories demonstrate that Stickley continued to manufacture and sell this model at least until 1904.