Perspective on Antiques
 My grandmother gave me a rocker years ago. It’s wide and solid and has a smooth rocking motion. The sticker on the bottom says “Taylor Comfortable Rocker” with a torn part that has the number “255” left on it. My husband is sure it is special, but to my mind it is just an old, well-made rocker.
Fran
You and your husband are both right. It is an old, well-made rocker and it is special, definitely from the Arts and Crafts period, probably from 1910 to 1920. It is very much like a Stickley design, as you can see from the catalogue illustration. The various Stickley family companies were so successful that many manufacturers copied their designs. They even took designs from each other with the exception of Gustav Stickley who was the source of many design elements. In September 1995 The Craftsman Farms Foundation and home of Gustav Stickley in Morris Plains, New Jersey, launched an exhibit with the help of Donald Davidoff and Stephen Gray titled “Innovation and Derivation.” In this exhibit they showed the many original and important designs that originated at the L.&J.G. Stickley Company. They also showed how L.&J.G. designs were influenced by their older brother Gustav Stickley. This was not unusual and something that happened between companies all the time, even today.
 
We recently purchased a Craftsman settle here in the Elmira area. What drew us to it was the fact that the back has three scalloped sections instead of a single straight back. We can find no maker’s mark, but there is a model number, 203-3861, visible when the cushion is removed. We have had no luck looking on the Web, but thought of you, since we love your column and look forward to our American Bungalow every quarter.
Chris and Cheryl Wightman
Elmira, N.Y.
 The settle (or settee) you purchased is from the Quaint Furniture line produced by Stickley Brothers Co., founded in the late 1890s by younger brothers of Gustav and Leopold Stickley to produce Arts and Crafts furniture in both the U.S. and England. They were quite successful at both marketing and production of their furniture. Their output of goods exceeded many of their contemporaries including their brothers. Stickley Brothers’ Quaint Furniture tends to be lighter in scale and often lighter in color as well. They developed a rounded-edge through tenon that could easily be produced on a routing machine, cutting down on hand joinery. Stickley Brothers products are highly regarded and very collectable; I would consider them in the top 10 of Mission furniture manufacturers.
I have a Gus V-back arm chair with the original finish. I am re-covering the original leather seat, which had fallen through. The chair is loose. I am a woodworker and can drill out the pegs and re-glue it. Should I? Or should the chair be left original but loose?
Barry Scott
 The chair has become loose because the wood and the glue have dried out and shrunk, allowing the tenon to move inside the mortise. Drilling out the tenon is quite invasive and should be avoided if possible because it would affect the value of the piece. I would recommend that you try injecting glue through a hypodermic needle into the appropriate joints. To do this you will need a woodworker’s hypodermic needle, a drill with a bit one size larger than the needle, hide glue, a damp rag and clamps. I recommend hide glue for a couple of reasons: it is what was originally used, and it is water based and will be compatible with the original glue, possibly even dissolving and blending with it on contact.
Turn the chair upside down. Drill into the joint on the bottom side, right where the stretcher meets the leg (see my drawing). Drill far enough in to hit the void where you want the glue to end up. Inject the glue until the mortise is full—i.e., until the glue starts to come out of the drill hole. Work the joint back and forth, forcing the glue in as far as possible. Inject again if necessary. (If glue spills on the wood’s surface, wipe it off with the damp rag.) Once all the joints are re-glued, leave the chair upside down, clamp in all directions and let it rest for a day. At this point you are ready for upholstering.
 We are avid collectors of Arts and Crafts furniture. We have not been able to find any information on our newest acquisition, which we think might be a barber’s chair. It is very heavy and stout, and stands 42” to the top of the back. A rod mechanism allows the seat to be adjusted up and down. It is quartersawn oak, with leather back and seat. We can find no marks or numbers on it. It looks to have been restored.
Brian & Donna Caldwell
Cottonwood, Calif.
This is an interesting chair. I have not seen anything quite like it. My first guess would not be a barber chair. During the time that this chair was probably produced, after 1920, production of Mission furniture for residential use had largely stopped, although because of its simplicity it was still being produced for commercial uses. The barber of that time provided more of a full-service function—“shave and a haircut, two bits.” To get the shave you would need a head rest, which this doesn’t have. My first thought was a
billiard chair, although I have never seen an adjustable one and normally there would be a foot rest.
After thinking about it, I came up with a shoeshine chair, which would make the most sense. The chair would be adjustable for different heights of clients, and the foot rest would stand independently out front. Congratulations on an interesting find. To date, you are the leader in the competition for the most unusual Arts and Crafts chair.
 I inherited this clock back in the late 1960s. The owner said it had belonged to her husband’s family in Berwyn, Ill. At that time, they didn’t even know to name it an Arts and Crafts style. I was given it because it was oak and I had already begun collecting American oak furniture originally sold through the Sears and Roebuck Catalog. The clock was clean then, has had several years’ rest in storage when we were out of the country, and has worked perfectly ever since. It has a beautifully resonant hour chime. I know it is from the Arts and Crafts era, but can’t find any more information about it. There are no labels or marks anywhere. (There might have been a mark on the inside of the base, but that piece had been replaced by the time it came into my possession.) The only visible signs are what appear to be Roman numerals I, V and X on the back; this leads me to think it may be a kit. The name on the face was placed there by a well-meaning clock repairman; it is the family’s name and I’m sure could be professionally removed without damaging the finish. The hinges appear to be hand cut, and the nail heads also appear to be hand made. The leaded glass has begun to sag, and one piece has fallen out. (It is intact and could be restored.)
Pat Durbin
Port Townsend, Wash.
You are right to think it may be a kit. The way the face is fastened into the case and the way the legs end at the top with the cap all seem to make it easy for the home owner/craftsman to assemble. On the other hand, the leaded glass, frame and panel construction on the door and lower sides of the case have a manufactured look. The door hardware looks to have been produced by a company like the Grand Rapids Brass Co.; the straps do have a more hand-cut appearance.
I am unsure who produced your clock. It is not by any of the major manufacturers like the several Stickleys, Limbert or Lifetime Furniture Co. As I have written so many times, there were a lot of companies working in this style, many of whom we know relatively little about. If a reader has a clock of similar design and would like to share a photo with us, we would welcome it. Maybe we will one day
get to the bottom of some of these little-known companies. |
