Gustav Stickley

Private Collection, Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1902
Thence by descent
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The Craftsman, November 1902 (for a drawing of the model)
Stephen Gray and Robert Edwards, eds., The Collected Works of Gustav Stickley, New York, 1981, p. 40 (for the above mentioned drawing)
Tod M. Volpe and Beth Cathers, Treasures of the American Arts and Crafts Movement: 1890-1920, New York, 1988, p. 29
David Cathers and Alexander Vertikoff, Stickley Style: Arts and Crafts Homes in the Craftsman Tradition, New York, 1999, p. 130
Kevin W. Tucker, Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement, exh. cat., Dallas Museum of Art, 2010, pp. 58 and 112, cat. no. 50
David Cathers and Susan J. Montgomery, Arts and Crafts Furniture from the Collection of the Two Red Roses Foundation, Palm Harbor, FL, 2017, p. 54

The present Four-Door Book Cabinet is an incredibly rare masterwork of the American Arts & Crafts movement and perhaps the most significant piece of Gustav Stickley furniture to come to market since the record-setting Stickley sideboard sold in 1999 from the private collection of Barbra Streisand. Published in the November 1902 issue of Stickley’s magazine The Craftsman, this cabinet design was constructed in the peak of the Craftsman Workshops’ finest production history and embodies the reform ideals that Stickley dedicated his career to promoting: “These pieces, in every case, boldly assert the purpose for which they are designed… The principles upon which they are based follow Nature, and must, therefore, be sound and true.” The strong architectural design is defined by its rectilinearity and symmetry. Four vertical doors are divided into slender columns of glass panels that visually extend the cabinet’s height, elegantly balanced by the more horizontal doors below. The rich oak surface is left unadorned with the exception of its hammered copper straps and handles, all placed at parallel and perpendicular angles to accentuate the proportions. The most daring part of the construction is the upper rail, which floats just above the top edge of the cabinet, relieving any heaviness and resulting in a sleek and handsome finished design. Only six examples of this model are known to exist today, making the present lot an unrivaled opportunity for collectors to acquire one of the most exemplary and singular pieces from the American Arts & Crafts movement.