Literature:

Gustav Stickley (Osceola, Wisconsin 1858 – 1942 Syracuse, New York) is considered one of the most important figures in the American Arts & Crafts movement. Through the publication of the magazine 'The Craftsman' from 1901 to 1916, he helped to popularize new European ideas in crafts and design in the United States. The eldest of eleven children, he learned the trade in his uncle's furniture factory. Magazines such as 'The Studio' and 'Pan' exposed him to the British Arts & Crafts movement, and William Morris, C.R. Mackintosh, and Joseph Hoffmann strongly influenced his aesthetic sensibilities. After a stay in Great Britain, he founded his own furniture workshop, 'The Craftsman Workshop,' in 1900 and began producing furniture characterized by simple means, clean lines, and high-quality craftsmanship. He favored unvarnished oak, which, like the Arts & Crafts movement, he considered 'honest' wood. He eschews superfluous decoration, joints are not concealed, and sometimes copper hinges are used as the sole ornamentation. The workshop goes bankrupt shortly before the First World War, but Gustav's younger brothers, Leopold and John George, manage to continue producing Gustav's designs in their own furniture factory in Fayetteville.