Things Wrought by The United Crafts at Eastwood New York

United Crafts

1902

Private Collection

"Things Wrought by the United Crafts at Eastwood New York" was released in early 1902, probably in February of that year. This was the fifth catalogue Stickley issued, and followed a pattern he had established in "Chips from the Workshops of Gustave Stickley" the previous year with the text devoted to the philosophy of the movement and drawings (as opposed to photographs) of the furniture. Read in concert, Stickley’s catalogs show a sense of refinement and evolution–not only of the objects themselves, but in the very organization of the catalogs–that is consonant with the broader process of clarifying his vision.

Unlike the earlier catalogs, where etchings and photographs were used exclusively to bring customers a sense of Stickley’s newest productions, Things Wrought by the United Crafts at Eastwood New York featured subtly shaded drawings and a few photographs, the majority of which previously appeared in The Craftsman. That a number of variations of this catalog exist, each designed with covers for specific retailers as well as the universal cover seen here, suggests a wide distribution was intended for the catalog. Curiously, although the text and images suggest its release in March 1902, no reference to the catalog’s release has been located in The Craftsman or any printed media until late September of that year.