Brad Pitt loves it.
So do Barbra Streisand and Jack Nicholson.
It’s been perfect for Robert Redford’s simple and natural lifestyle and George Lucas thought so highly of it that he put it in his Star Wars episode Attack of the Clones. (It was at the bedside of Sen. Padme Amidala, former queen of Naboo, played by Natalie Portman).
But if you haven’t heard the name here in the West and Southwest, you’re in the majority, even though the Stickley Furniture company has been wildly successful for more than 100 hundred years.
Those who purchase a Stickley bed, chest, armoire, chair, desk, cabinet or any number of other pieces in the line know that a lot of modern-day furniture makers can’t make a dent or even scratch the surface of the quality of workmanship and lifetime guarantee of a Stickley piece.
They also know that they’re not just purchasing furniture, they’re investing in a piece of art and that the value actually increases the minute you walk out the door.
Ask Streisand. In 1999, an oak and wrought-iron Stickley sideboard from her collection sold at auction for $596,500.
With the opening of Forsey’s in Scottsdale comes the only Stickley showroom in Arizona, where you can stroll through rooms of many styles in the Stickley line and see up close the crafting techniques used only by Stickley furniture and cabinetmakers.
A big promise
The techniques may seem a bit foreign in today’s “throw it together and go” society:
Blind dovetailed cross rails, tongue and groove glue joining, quadralinear post, keyed and pinned tenons and ship lap planking. This is how each piece of Stickley furniture is made, built to last, and to be passed on from one generation to the next.
Gustav Stickley, often called the dean of cabinetmakers and responsible for ushering in the Arts and Crafts furniture movement in America, believed so much in the integrity of his work that he promised a “lifetime guarantee for all Stickley products except dining chairs against manufacturing defects to the original purchaser.”
It’s a promise that the company keeps to this day. From its legendary Mission Oak and Cherry design to the 21st Century line, you’ll find everything from a tiny cedar chest to a kitchen island with Stickley’s signature shop marks and inlaid designs lasered or etched into them.
Secret compartment
Celebrities like Streisand, Nicholson and Lucas collect Stickley for any number of reasons – its simple beauty, timeless design, quality of construction, hand-sanded smooth finishes, leaded glass doors and copper ring inlays.
Or maybe it’s the Stickley “secrets” that I found most intriguing. In many pieces, undisclosed compartments have been built in, the location of which remains a secret. (Some pieces include a tag with instructions on locating and operating the secret compartment.)
New generation
The popularity of Stickley is growing quickly, especially among the 30- and 40-somethings looking for a clean, casual and sophisticated design. Because Stickley furniture is not oversize, it’s also attracting homeowners looking to furnish condos and patio homes with realistic-size furniture for their surroundings.
Finally, Stickley seems to mix well with other design influences, including the Southwest style.
Once a year
Each year, Stickley reproduces one piece of furniture from its original collection and makes it available for that year alone. This year’s piece is the Collector Chest, modeled after a small shirtwaist chest that sat at the foot of Gustav Stickley’s bed.
The cedar chest is available only through Dec. 31 of this year and is on display in the Stickley showroom at Forsey’s, 11201 N. Scottsdale Road; (480) 315-1063, www.forseys.com.
Watch for Jan’s home and lifestyle features from 11 a.m. to noon every Monday and Thursday on Channel 12’s Arizona Midday. You also can hear her radio show from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays on KFYI-AM (550).
