Willow Chair (no. 54 1/2)

Craftsman Workshops

1908-11 (ca.)

31 x 31 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches

Willow, wood, replaced cushions

1994.8

Gift of David Cathers

Depicted in the Girls' Bedroom in the November 1911 Natalie Curtis article in The Craftsman, this chair is a rare survivor and is the only known surviving piece of willow furniture from Craftsman Farms. This is surprising as the 1917 inventory for the sale of the property listed 24 pieces of willow–from chairs, to baskets, to tables–and at least one other settle is seen in period photographs. Stickley used willow (sparingly) as early as 1900, when he included a willow basket with his Chalet Desk (no. 505), but it was the article "Craftsman Willow Furniture" in the July 1907 issue of his magazine that signaled his sustained interest in it. By 1904 he included two pieces of willow in the catalog "What is Wrought in the Craftsman Workshops," and the March issue of The Craftsman depicted willow furniture in an interior, recommending them as a lighter counterpoint to his wooden furniture. Yet, it was not until 1907 that he began marketing pieces under the Craftsman name with any consistency. These must have been popular designs, as his willow furniture is amongst the few designs that survived the return in 1915 to the Colonial Revival aesthetic that dominated his last years.

Gustav Stickley (by 1911); sold with the contents of Craftsman Farms in 1917 to George and Sylvia Farny; by descent to Cyril Farny; Private Collection; Robert Judson Clark; David Cathers.