Chair (no. 2606)

United Crafts

1901-02 (ca.)

2018.19.14

Gift of Gregg and Monique Seibert

It is tempting, because only the 1901 retail plates and Chips from the Workshops of the United Crafts, specified green ash as an option for Stickley’s furniture to date every piece of green ash furniture to that year and be done with it. Yet, the factory inventories, sales journals, and The Craftsman–in spite of the fragmentary nature of these records– demonstrate that this was more than a passing fancy for Stickley and indeed something he continued until at least 1903 and probably through 1904. Some forms, like Buffet (no. 955), were never specifically offered in ash with a green finish in his catalogs, demonstrating that consumers were able to customize pieces and finishes in a broader manner than has been previously acknowledged. Indeed, writing as late as August 1902 for The Craftsman, Irene Sargent described the line drawings of furniture as “in green ash,” despite the fact that the most recent retail plates did not list this as an option. In 1903, according to the sales journals, this combination of wood and finish was still being ordered by customers and made by the firm.

Gustav Stickley

Purchased, en suite, by an undisclosed buyer, ca. 1901, then by descent. Dalton’s American Decorative Arts and Antiques (September 2001). Cathers and Dembrosky (by 2002). Gregg and Monique Seibert (2002).