Anniversary Edition: The Many Lives of Mission
Darcy Smith
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A celebration of Stickley’s 125th anniversary would not be complete without revisiting our most iconic collection. This month we offer a refreshed edition of “The Many Lives of Mission,” a very brief history of the collection that started it all, both in 1900 and again in 1989!
A brilliant, brief debut
Gustav Stickley made his Arts and Crafts mark in 1900 by creating a style that rejected Victorian excesses in favor of simple forms, honest American hardwoods (particularly oak), and utility —a piece of furniture that served no purpose had no place in the home he imagined. Americans who shared this desire for simplicity and function caught on quickly, and sales of what came to be known as Mission style boomed. But the original period of Mission’s popularity was relatively short. As world war loomed, life became more uncertain, and tastes in home furnishings swung back to colonial styles and the comfort of the past. Gustav’s Craftsman business failed in less than two decades, and in Fayetteville, his brothers Leopold and John George eventually shifted their focus to Colonial Revival in order to stay afloat.
1989 Mission Oak catalog
Resurfacing
Because Stickley furniture was so well built, original pieces survived in fine condition long after the style’s initial popularity waned. Interest in these Mission antiques was revived by an exhibition curated by Robert Judson Clark at Princeton University in 1972. In a 1988 Christie’s auction, Barbra Streisand paid a record $363,000 for a Gustav Stickley sideboard. Alfred and Aminy Audi, owners of L. & J.G. Stickley since 1974, read these signs of renewed interest in their brand’s legacy style. Studying old records, catalogs, and borrowed antiques, Alfred Audi and designer William DeBlaay recreated designs for more than 30 original Stickley pieces, and the company reissued the Mission Oak Collection in April 1989. Mission was back, and now it was available to homeowners who craved the Arts and Crafts style but couldn’t afford high-priced antiques. As the Audis predicted, it received an enthusiastic reception.
Mission Cherry Collection
Growing with the times
This time, Mission did not fade away again after a brief revival. The company heeded the lessons of Leopold, who realized early that a brand could not stay static and thrive. As its first major update, Stickley issued the Mission Cherry Collection in 1991, a smart decision given the wood’s popularity and the company’s reputation for producing fine cherry furniture throughout the 20th century. It also continued to add Mission pieces, both reissues and adaptations of designs influenced by Harvey Ellis and others. All the while, this classic style was updated with modern features, including new back-cushion styles and contemporary recliner technology on upholstery.
Park Slope Collection
Mission in the 21st-century
Nearly 120 years after the original Mission style was conceived, the Park Slope Collection, created by new Director of Design Marissa Brown, was unveiled, and its debt to Stickley’s original vision was unmistakable. There were the reverse-tapered legs, the iconic square spindles, the rich ray-flake grain of quartersawn oak. And yet, the familiar lines and elements had merged with organic curves and become somehow lighter. This was an interpretation of Mission that opened the door to the style’s possibilities.
Pairie Settle, Mission Copper-Top Side Table
Little Treasures Small Bookcase
And based on Mission’s longevity in the story of American design, it’s no surprise that there are new chapters still to be written. Today, Stickley continues to explore the possibilities of Mission with new designs inspired by classic forms and adapted for modern homes. In this way, the collection remains a living, breathing testament to its earliest creators, and one that’s embraced by Stickley lovers old and new.
Meadowflower Four-Door Sideboard Harvey Ellis Hi-Lo Work Table,
Spindle Morris Recliner
Adapted from “The Many Lives of Mission,” Inside Stickley blog, June 2021.
Additional sources:
Mrs. Aminy Audi, CEO and Chair of the Board
Amanda Clifford, Director, The Stickley Museum
Gray, Stephen & Robert Edwards, eds. Collected Works of Gustav Stickley. New York: Turn of the Century Editions, 1989.
Gray, Stephen. The Early Work of Gustav Stickley. New York: Turn of the Century Editions, 1987.
Gray, Stephen. Gustav Stickley after 1909. New York: Turn of the Century Editions, 1990.
