The Historic District

I have a pair of these they have been in the family since I can remember. They sort of remind me of the stickley style. Very masculine looking, to me.

The bottom cushions need some new stuffing and I guess webbing and recovering
I bought two brown leather hide skins in the same brown so I'll use that. Another project just in waiting. felt these ones actually do fit the craftsman style. Not sure if you'd call them parlour chairs or what but I like them.

I like that you can put your beer or coffee on the armrest

Neat. We have a chair that's a more modern adaptation with less detailing grouped with our MCM stuff.

I found this picture, which is a similar Morris style Stickley. You could easily imitate some of the typical Stickley style details like the protruding joinery if you wanted to be a stickler.


Oh, and here's another...sans cushion, I'd guess from the depth of the seat slats:

Oh, and here's a dining room set that's even more similar from this site:

ooh i like that dining set!
I think the chair I have and these as well would lend them selves well to being copied. they always strike me as being nice and very durable without a lot of unnecessary ornamentation. not much lamination or veneer and not a huge amount of wood. I think I prefer the robust but slightly tapered designs to things with delicate spindles and even fancy carving. I have another set I will try to photo.

I love that style of furniture; it's beautiful in its simplicity. Lily's Morris chair is the one I'm most familiar with; sometimes the square at the front of the armrests has a low-profile pyramid cut.

you will also sometimes see that low profile pyramid shape on the newel post in craftsman houses. I take that to be a tie in with the design. sort of a signature if you will..

i also notice that Lily's examples the front legs dont have a taper where mine do. subtle differences but similar in design. Ive seen examples of that covered armchair as a rocker as well. I think that's just someones rendition.

I don't know anything at all about the about religious aspects but are these designs also linked to Amish or Mennonite style cabinetry ? or do these religions even come into play.. sometimes I will notice things like 13 cutouts in other designs, 13 being representative of the last supper.. You'll see it a lot in stained glass and fretwork. I even have a radio with the fish symbol on the grill. lots of the radios I have I can count 13 holes in the grillwork. I notice a lot of fanciness in a lot of things like in a catholic church you will often see extravagant ornamentation but knowing so little about it I seem to be under the impression that maybe these religions promoted simplicity in design and I wasn't trying to express religious content the the forum any more than I'd discuss politics at work.. i guess you may also see roman influences which are probably overlooked . pillars, maybe grapes and symbols of greek gods etc.. maybe the proportions as described well in another thread which initiated in roman architecture.. there is probably a lot to know and learn on these subjects with reference to furniture styles, without really touching on the meaning and beliefs behind the religions themselves. people may notice an armchair has 13 spindles, things like that are pretty subtle to someone who is not of a particular religious background and may be or more importance or significance to someone who is.

Ive often thought maybe these traditions were included in places where people of a certain religion would appreciate them and others wouldn't even notice and perhaps that was good for sales, especially through certain time periods and certain areas. like my "fish radio" I never even noticed that design until one day it dawned on me that it was what I think was a religious interpretation.

the 4 sided pyramid? does that relate to something with deeper meaning? i'm not sure.. the ancient Greek pyramids were 4 sided I think though... or maybe it's just easier to cut something 4 sided on a saw. I've never seen this shallow pyramid with three sides though, always 4. maybe it just makes more sense . Ill still see it on caps for railings and fence posts too and I think they were just trying to make the rain run off instead of soaking in in some cases. when I see it I sort of relate that to the craftsman design in much the same way as the roof brackets.. they are following traditional proportions and angles and keeping with the style.It easy not to recognise that and go outside of it.. my staircase had been cut down and I rebuilt it and made a round octagon shaped ball and stuck that on top of the newel post , later realizing I had actually perhaps veered off course with my own design element that had no relation to the overall craftsman design.

phil wrote:I don't know anything at all about the about religious aspects but are these designs also linked to Amish or Mennonite style cabinetry ?

Mission style is based on furniture found in Spanish religious missions. Morris and Stickley are designer/makers, but the overall style of the pieces we are talking about is mission. (Morris had a long career, that spanned many "trends".) I just returned a book about mission architecture and furniture such, but barely glanced through it due to time constraints.

As with any plain living focused religious living, you can see the similarities between the styles of Spanish mission, Amish, Quaker, etc.

That reminds me of a neighbor who used to refer to her decorating style as Early Hovel.