Stickley Era, the Arts & Crafts Movement

[Jeff in OC]

Hello,

Found this Quaint/Stickley Brothers#5900 taboret in a local antique store.
Apparently it had been sitting there in the window for a number of days as my wife saw it and forgot to tell me about it until I happened to walk by days later and see it in the window. I went and purchased it yesterday. I recognized it right away as SB with caned sides and splined top. This line is featured in their 1914 catalog. Sort of Austrian Seccesionist in design. I have only seen a few examples of this line for sale in the past. Was there limited production of these pieces or is it that they did not sell well? Although Don Marek does state in the catalog re-print that these were the most successful new pieces in the No. 42 catalog. I can't seem to find this example in any past action results either.
I like the design, I thought the price was right and there is no such thing as too many taborets.
It was priced at $125 and I offered less and the offer was accepted. Original finish with few blemishes/scratches on the top and the dealer did have the side panels re-caned.
Not signed with the metal tag or decal but there is a nail on the bottom that most likely was used to attach the round paper label that often fall off. It is numbered 5900 on the bottom as it is in the catalog. Brought it home with no place to put it but I am sure it will find a place, just have to re-shuffle.

[Ray Fleck]

Great find - I see stuff like this and cane-seat chairs and think, "If only I didn't like cats so much."

[Stonecat]

Those are micro splines.

Has anybody read anything definitive as to why cane treatment was introduced, or was it just a marketing move searching for customers?
_________________

Stonecat

[Jeff in OC]

Yes, when I brought the piece home I wondered if our cats
would think I brought them a new surface to scratch (destroy) as they have had an impact on our leather upholstery at times.
As far as the cane inserts go, in Merek's preface in the catalog he states that "Caning on flat services not only served to lighten the look of the piece, but also conserved increasingly scarce quartersawn white oak" Didn't realize quartersawn white oak was getting scarce in 1914.
With this particular piece I think it would look as good or better without the cane insert. Years earlier (1906) Limbert also introduced cane inserts to pieces in their catalog as did other companies. The SB line was more extensive.

[Ray Fleck]

Mine have never shown any interest in leather.

[Marnic]

I have a Stickley Brothers table with cane panels, and I love the look of the cane and the oak. I'm not sure if everyone would agree, but I also salivate over the Limbert caned pieces as well. It's a great look, and helps break up all the oak in the house (sort of like the wicker pieces were meant to do).

Here is my table:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71957823@N05/7712356346/" title="DSC_0934 by geckofeeties, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7712356346_e24206c967.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="DSC_0934"></a>

My cat never bothered the cane panels, but she recently departed this world and I am not sure I would trust another cat with this table. It just looks a little too much like a scratching post!

[Jeff in OC]

Nice table. It is not shown in the No. 42 catalog but a friend of mine has a round cane paneled lamp table that is also not in this catalog. His is not signed but is shown on pg. 77 in Paul Royka's book title "Mission Furniture...". Does yours have a paper label or metal tag? Is there a number stenciled on the bottom? Is the top splined? Just curious.

[Marnic]

The table is not marked in any way, but it is splined. Treadway sold an example in 2005 and attributed to SB, so I base my attribution on theirs (I have not looked through all my catalogs for it, so I might be wrong!). The sale record is here: www.liveauctioneers.com/item/1198678

I have a good number of SB items and the table certainly looks "right". Cane appears original as well as the finish.

[Klay]

Nice looking piece, but I think the caning has been replaced. It looks far too light to me.

I like caned pieces a lot, but haven't gotten one yet.

Here's a nice plant stand that John Connelly at Dreamlight has. Unfortunately, the cane has been damaged:

http://www.jcdreamlight.com/showPhoto.php?item=1106

And if you got it for less than $125, I'd say that was a very good deal.

[Marnic]

I think my last post was poorly worded...

I agree that the caning on Jeff's table looks like it is a new replacement. I'm reasonably sure that the caning on my table is original, so that might be a good comparison. To me, caning that is original is mellow like the patina on an old basket. It can be approximated with dye, but always looks like it has a little less depth.

[Jeff in OC]

Yes, as I mentioned in my original post the cane has been replaced. The dealer said she had her "cane guy" replace it.
He did a pretty good job. The dealer had no idea that this was a SB piece, it was not labeled as such on the tag. She probably would have been asking more for it if she had known as this is a retail store. I can't believe it lasted that long in the window down town with hundreds of people walking by each day. Our down town historic district used to be the Antique Capital of Southern California but many of the antique stores have folded and have been replace by restaurants. She was asking $125 and I offered her $100 cash (no tax, under the table money). She didn't even think about it and said okay. She was happy and so was I. She must not have paid much for it. How would you go about aging the cane, stain, dye? Of course I could wait for it to patina but I don't have 100 years.

[vistacruiser]

I have dealt with alot of canned furniture over the years, and I would say that if you have never tried adding a patina to caning, than it's probably best not to try anything by yourself on any piece that you like. Cane varies widely in density and texture within each stand, especially the newer stuff for some reason, and it can take a huge amount of experience as well as a little luck to get any kind of an even patina on fresh cane. I have replaced a ton of canned panels that were splotchy or too dark because somebody wanted an antique look and tried to stain or dye the cane. I have found the best thing to do is use older cane in the first place, but that can be hard to find if you don't know someone who has been caning for years and years and has built up a large supply. When a piece has already been caned, it is really difficult to add a patina that looks right, but if you want to try, I usually cut down a paintbrush so it is really stiff and use the sludge settled at the bottom of a can of stain, because the more porous bits of cane won't soak up quite as much of it as it would the lighter, more liquid stain.-again-I can't really recommend trying this on any piece you like or that has any value unless you are prepared to re-cane it if it comes out splotchy. A good alternative is just to use a dark paste wax and a stiff bristle brush.
Good luck
-mike

[Klay]

Thank YOU! I am just the kind of person who would try to darken the cane and I appreciate the warning BEFORE I mess it up .

[Marnic]

Briwax might work, as it has a dye additive as well as wax. It's not my area of expertise, so anyone on here feel free to correct me!

[Jeff in OC]

Thanks Mike, glad I asked first and since I really do not want to re-cane I will probably just leave it alone and let it patina on its own. Although dark paste wax seems like the safer of the alternatives.