This thesis offers a detailed and critical examination of the productions and ideologies associated with the American Arts and Crafts Movement, as seen through the lens of its business marketing practices and extant histories. Up to this point, little had been written about this facet of design history, thus leaving many wide gaps in understanding why this furniture was made and who it was made for. Where previously, Stickley had been cast in historical narratives as a strict, fully fledged proselytizer for the reform of furniture production, in contrast, his business was responsible for an innovative range of marketing activities that sought to tie his unique aesthetic to an all-important cultural spirit of that age. This newly informed study of Stickley’s business practices provides an invaluable new lens to the cultural values that were then being pursued by his targeted middle-class American male audience. His authentic-feeling aesthetic projected a period fusion of Medievalism, Orientalism and Modernism, packaged in a manner that catered very positively to his clientele, allowing them to cultivate social prestige and self-improvement at an affordable cost. Recognized as early as 1900 as being “built for the future”, Stickley furniture remains to this day an iconic example of both functional and aesthetically appealing American design and execution.
Gustav Stickley and his daring-byzantine circus of dreams
Schaer, A. (Author). 27 Jul 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis