Stickley Era, the Arts & Crafts Movement

Jeff in OC · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:51 pm Post subject: L&JG Dining Chair

Hi,
I purchased a set of six of these unsigned L&JG Stickley dining chairs. On a couple of the chairs I noticed finger joints on on of the back legs. I was not aware that L&JG used this technique on their furniture and assumed that they always used a single piece of wood for legs on their chairs. I purchase these at an local auction and was rather surprised to get them at $100 each. They seem to have been refinished at some time, that is probably why there is no longer decals. They all retain their spring seats. They are all heavy and tight, one a has a small repair to the back of the rear leg. Are these types of joints common?

Stonecat · Site Admin Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 1919 : Items

So you are assuming it's a repair then, and not original? I would tend to agree, but that said, I've seen this joint before where it didn't look like a repair, and would probably tend to be on 'cheaper' pieces by more generic makers.
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Stonecat

Steve06 · Esteemed Scholar Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 427 : Items

Hm, interesting for sure. Nice chairs. If it is a repair they did a great job!

Jeff in OC · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:17 pm Post subject:

No, I do not think the finger joint are repairs ( they appear on two of the chairs) there is a small corner repair on one of the chairs legs though. One of the finger joints is in the middle at the seat and the other is about 4 inches from the bottom of the leg. If they were repairs the joint that is located at the seat one would probably have to disassemble the chair to accomplish this and the chair does not appear to have ever been disassembled.
They appear to be part of the original construction. Just wanted to know if anyone has seen this on a L&JG chair or any of their furniture.

The Rohirrim · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:57 pm Post subject:

Based on my experience, my first reaction would be to say that it is a repair. Years ago I had a set of L & JG Stickley dining chairs. One of the chairs had the back broken off. I took that chair to my restoration guy (John Ware of Stonehedge Restorations in Hillsboro VA). John is a magician and did a superb repair job. I forget if he used the pencil joint that you see on your chairs. He had to add a piece of wood on either side since the damaged original wood had to be pared down a few inches so there were two joints on each chair post. A top and a bottom. Is that the case with your chairs? If you only have one joint I would say that it is original construction. Creating that repair joint inevitably causes a loss of height and new wood must be added. The load-bearing back legs/posts cannot simply be re-glued due to the need for a strong bond.

Montesa · Esteemed Scholar Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 291 : Items

Do you have any pictures of the corner blocks? Lets figure out once in for all if it's L&JG or a copy. Without a decal, the corner block will be the giveaway. L&JG will have used two screws and 2 nails per corner block.

Jeff in OC · Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 6:58 pm Post subject:

Yes, there are two screws and two nails per each corner block.
I also included a photo of one of the spring seat cushions.

morganpam · Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:09 am Post subject:

I love the wonderful tidbits I learn from each of you! Just one more thing to store away in the back of my mind. Very Happy