Mission furniture remains popular a century after its introduction. So where do Stickley and Arts & Crafts Furniture fit within the mission-style?
Who made the first mission furniture? Who developed and commercialized mission-style furniture? What distinguishes mission furniture? Is it available today?
Spanish Missionaries Pioneered Mission Furniture
“mission” honors the Spanish missionaries to California and the American southwest. As true pioneers who first arrived in the mid-1700s, they made furniture for their mission chapels and their own living spaces.
Five factors influenced their furniture: culture, religion, skills, tools, and materials. As a result, these missionaries were both inspired and limited:
- Their Spanish cultural heritage led them to incorporate certain design elements into their furniture.
- Their Roman Catholic heritage also contributed to their design esthetics, especially for chapel furniture.
- Limited carpentry skills may have kept them from fully achieving their design goals – they were missionaries rather than artisans.
- Limited tools may also have played a part – they started with what they had brought.
- They used the available materials, such as cottonwood, Douglas fir, spruce, and yellow pine in the American South-West; mahogany, rosewood, and more exotic woods in Mexico, Central America, or the West Indies.
So the Spanish missions in the Americas originally had simple furniture designs, mainly due to the available tools and skills. This necessity became a virtue a few centuries later.
Gustav Stickley Commercialized Mission Furniture
Gustav Stickley was inspired in the late 1890s by the European “Arts and Crafts” movement, which stressed simplicity and honesty in design and manufacture. So he began a venture in New York State called “United Crafts.”
Stickley also appreciated “American Country Style,” which featured soft colors, natural woods, and simplicity of design. Stickley dedicated his company to building quality furniture in style, combining these European and American sensibilities.
At a Michigan trade show in 1905, his company displayed a new product line described as “simple furniture built along mission lines.” The warm reception for these products was the foundation of mission-style furniture.
The Main Features of Mission Furniture
Mission furniture uses natural materials: locally-available wood with iron or copper fittings and covered by canvas, cloth or leather. Dark stain finishes emphasize the joinery.
The mission style is simple, using straight horizontal and vertical lines and flat rectangular areas. It stepped back from the embellishments, such as the carved curves found in Victorian furniture.
The Current State of Mission Style Furniture
Mission furniture remains popular and available through “brick and mortar” retail outlets and online discount retailers. It is elegant in its simplicity, well-built and practical in bedrooms, dining rooms, and home offices.
If local retailers do not carry “mission furniture,” search for other names online. In England, seek “Arts and Crafts Furniture.” Other terms are “Craftsman furniture,” a trading name used by Stickley, and his name remains linked to this style.
Alfred and Aminy Audi bought Stickley’s company, manufacturing quality furniture. Others, including small Amish workshops, also manufacture high-quality mission-style furniture.