Stickley tilt-top table would draw little at auction
Q. I have inherited a 24-inch tilt-top table with the burned-in name “Stickley Fayetteville Syracuse." My preliminary research tells me that several Stickley companies existed in the 1800s. Please help me identify the exact maker and the insurance value.
A. The name of Stickley can be magic in the current marketplace, but some pieces of Stickley furniture are far more valuable than others.
Of the five Stickley brothers who entered the furniture business, Gustav (1858-1942) turned out to be the most famous; he is a virtual icon in the history of the American Arts & Crafts movement (called “mission" or “Craftsman" furniture), which, in a real sense, he invented.
His brothers Charles (1860-1927), Albert (1862-1928), Leopold (1869-1957) and John George (1871-1921) all joined the furniture-making trade at one time or another. Some of the furniture made by Gustav's siblings is collectible, but most of it is not.
Gustav Stickley entered the world in Osceola, Wis., as did his brothers, and they began Stickley Brothers in Binghamton, N.Y., in the 1880s. They crafted the type of traditional walnut furniture associated with the late 19th century.
Then, in 1897, Gustav traveled to England, where he fell under the influence of English Arts & Crafts reformers such as John Ruskin and William Morris. Gustav decided to create an entirely new type of American furniture based on Arts & Crafts principles (handcrafted furniture with designs based on honesty and simplicity), and Craftsman furniture was born.
In 1898, Gustav established United Crafts (aka Craftsman Workshops and the Gustav Stickley Company) in Eastwood, N.Y., and his new Craftsman line of furniture was made from quarter-sawn oak with tenon-and-key construction and chamfered boards free of excessive ornamentation. After working with Gustav in the early days, the other Stickley brothers began forming their own furniture-building enterprises.
Leopold and John George worked with Gustav at first, but shortly after the turn of the century split off to form L.&J.G. Stickley in Fayetteville, N.Y. They began making Arts & Crafts-style furniture after the firm's incorporation in 1904 (Stickley is still in business today, based in Manlius, N.Y.), and their Arts & Crafts items are the most desired pieces of Stickley furniture after the ones made by Gustav.
L.&J.G. Stickley actually acquired Gustav's Craftsman Workshop in 1916, but when public tastes in furniture changed, L.&J.G. began making Colonial Revival furniture. This included its famous Cherry Valley Collection, and this tilt-top tea table may be part of this grouping.
Collectors are currently interested in L.&J.G.'s Arts & Crafts-style furniture, but the more traditional line does not thrill them. In our research, we found that the exact mate for the table in today's question sold at auction for a mere $60 late in 2008, and $140 two years earlier. The value of this type of furniture has fallen dramatically in the past two years, but we feel the insurance-replacement value for this item runs between $150 and $200.
ŸContact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928 or via e-mail at treasures@knology.net.