137: GUSTAV STICKLEY, Sideboard, model 814 variant < Early 20th Century Design, 18 March 2025 < Auctions

Early 20th Century Design

18 March 2025

Early 20th Century Design

137

Gustav Stickley
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Sideboard, model 814 variant

USA, c. 1907-12
oak, copper, ooze leather 40½ h × 66 w × 24 d in (103 × 168 × 61 cm)

estimate: $1,500–2,000

result: $2,794

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Sideboard features four drawers and two doors concealing storage. Red manufacturer's decal to drawer 'Als ik kan Gustav Stickley' with joiner's compass. Paper manufacturer's mark to reverse 'Craftsman Als ik kan Made by Gustav Stickley in the Craftsman Workshops Eastwood New York'.
provenance: Collection of William and Patsy Porter
literature: Catalogue of Craftsman Furniture, manufacturer's catalog, pg. 62

This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.

The quiet rhythmic monotone of the wall of logs fills one with the rustic peace of a secluded nook in the woods.

Gustav Stickley

Gustav Stickley 1858–1942

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Gustav Stickley, whose name is synonymous with Craftsman furniture, was a visionary American proponent for the Arts and Crafts philosophy in design, literature, and life. At the peak of his career, his furniture was sold throughout the country, Craftsman houses built in many areas, and The Craftsman magazine widely read. After bankruptcy in 1915, Stickley was largely forgotten until the 1970s, when his importance as a designer was rediscovered by a new generation.

The eldest son of first generation German immigrants, Stickley was born into a family that owned furniture-manufacturing businesses. He found inspiration in the writings of John Ruskin and William Morris and the well-built, hand-crafted furniture and the brotherhood of honest labor they espoused. In 1898 he established the Gustav Stickley Company in Eastwood, a suburb of Syracuse, New York. He adopted a William Morris motto, "Als ik kan" ("If I can") and used the symbol of a medieval joiner’s compass as his trademark.

Stickley’s furniture was a radical departure from the American furniture of the Victorian era. Surfaces were unadorned, mortise and tenon joinery and wood grain exposed. The hammered metal hardware underscored the artisanal look of furniture, which was fabricated both by hand and by contemporary woodworking machines.

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