With its simple, yet elegant horizontal and vertical lines and its dark stain used to enhance the quality of the normally oak made base, mission style furniture is popular worldwide. The man the world has to thank for this beautiful style is Gustav Stickley.
Born on the 8th March 1858, Stickley was a designer; magazine publisher and the founder of one of the most well know styles of furniture not only across America but across the world. One of eleven children, Stickley was born and raised in Osceola, Wisconsin. Stickley was the oldest sibling of the family and it soon became apparent that he would have to trade in his formal education for an early life making ends meet for his family by working with his father as a stonemason. At this time the family was struggling financially and by early 1876 it was decided that his mother, himself and the rest of his siblings would move to Brandt, Pennsylvania to be closer to the rest of their extended family. This was to be where Gustav Stickley was first introduced to the art of furniture making.
Training and early career
He underwent formal training in the art of furniture making almost immediately at his uncle’s chair factory and his aptitude for attention to detail and passion for the line of work was spotted immediately. Under the tutelage of his uncle, Gustav made huge strides at a very early age. His obvious talent for the trade and his hard working nature convinced him, along with two of his brothers, to form their own company. In 1883, Stickley Brothers and Company was officially formed. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, things did not run a smoothly as he would have liked and he found himself having to dissolve Stickley Brothers and Company after only five years of trading.
New Furniture
This wasn’t to be the end of a once promising career though. In the early part of 1900, Stickley produced his first line of experimental work which he named New Furniture. Word spread quickly and by 1901 the popularity of his designs had soared. He began offering what we would refer to today as “mission style furniture” to the middle classes. Stickley’s line of New Furniture found favor with the middle classes as it was promoted using Stickley’s own core values, namely simplicity, honesty and truth. An ideal that can be seen in stores selling furniture in Salt Lake City UT to this very day.
After a long and successful career, Gustav Stickley died on the 21st of April 1942. Despite an initial downturn in the popularity of his furniture design his legacy is not to be underestimated and in recent times it is indeed the case that his mission style furniture is as popular as ever.
