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In 1988,
Barbara Streisand paid $363,000 dollars at auction
for a sideboard by Gustav Stickley, establishing
mission furniture as a rival of early American
furniture. Since then dealers and collectors
have scrambled to learn how to identify makers
and evaluate prices. The American Arts and Crafts
Movement followed the English revolt in the
1890s against plush Victorian taste and flourished
until World War I changed American taste again.
Aiming for a simpler lifestyle, it featured
straight lines, cut-outs, mortise and tenon
support, and peg joinery and made names like
Gustav Stickley, Elbert Hubbard and the "Roycrofters,"
and the break-away Stickley Brothers all the
rage. This extensive book presents the histories
of the major mission furniture companies including
Stickley, Limbert, Roycroft, Young, Harden,
Leavens, and others. With more than 300 color
photographs, Mission Furniture provides identification
clues, glossary of terms, and values. It also
documents the never before published furniture
designs of the William Leavans Company. Royka,
along with Skinner Galleries and many obliging
collectors, has now put together this compilation
of works and their values. Mission Furniture:
Furniture of the American Arts and Crafts Movement
is an excellent reference source that is a must
for dealers, collectors, interior designers,
and anyone interested in the American Arts and
Crafts Movement.
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