Wardrobe

Craftsman Workshops

1913 (ca.)

Oak with copper hardware

Image Courtesy of the New Jersey State Museum

Unmarked and uncataloged, the Wardrobe is a unique piece, one which we believe was made for Craftsman Farms. Various dates have been proposed for the piece, in part because the top gallery resembles one found on a book cabinet published in The Craftsman in November 1902, and because the wooden butterflies are seen on the Settle from Stickley's Columbus Avenue home, as well as other early pieces like Sideboard (no. 967). We have dated it here to about 1913 for a number of reasons. First, the hardware–which is original–is unlike that he used in the earlier pieces. Second, the construction of the door panels and use of butterflies in the doors more closely resembles the panels of Screen (no. 84) than the earlier pieces. Sideboard (no. 967), for example, features doors made entirely of plansk joined by butterflies, whereas both the screen and the wardrobe use these joints in inset panels. The 1917 inventory of the Log House indicates a number of wardrobes in the second floor of the Log House but provides no additional details that would allow us to know the specific room. During the Farny's time at Craftsman Farms, the wardrobe remained on the second floor and at some point was placed in the hall.