Stickley #210

Stickley's #210 settee embodies Arts & Crafts simplicity, honesty, and craft in one iconic design.

- By Kevin Pierce

A hundred years ago, Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Workshops were busy producing some of the most exceptional furniture of 20th century America. This interests me because, for years I described, through measured drawings, hundreds of pieces of furniture. I illustrated several books and articles for my brother (Kerry Pierce) that were published through Popular Woodworking. Many of the later projects provided the opportunity to examine antiques in museums. Prior to those visits, I'd only drawn antique replicas and other, more modern pieces.

The first museum I visited was in the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill in Kentucky. Many of the pieces previously drawn were Shaker inspired, but I'd never seen an original. Here, I was surrounded by original antiques, housed in original Shaker buildings, constructed nearly two hundred years earlier. I was never particularly interested in museums prior to my visit to Pleasant Hill, but working late at night in those silent rooms, I felt the presence of the people who once lived and worked there.

I've measured a number of the antiques since, and I'm always curious about the creators of these pieces. This curiosity, coupled with a fondness for furniture that is simply designed and elegantly constructed, guided me to the work of the Craftsman Workshops. Here are wonderful examples of solidly built, beautifully proportioned furniture, designed to faithfully serve its purpose, rather than act as a decoration. This type of design generally produces a more attractive piece than one intended for beauty alone.

My initial intent of this article was to explain exactly how the #210 Settle (shown below) was made with measurements and drawings I was able to make off of the original. And, that will come in a future issue. Instead, I first want to offer up some background and philosophy of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.