Around the late 19th century, people were ready for a change. The furniture industry reached a critical tipping point.
The Victorian era left a sour taste in people’s mouth’s for anything related to unnecessary excess. This period was notorious for elaborate fabrics, ornate embellishments and a large number of pieces that weren’t necessary for daily life.
If being forced to live through that wasn’t bad enough, the industrial revolution was spewing out mass-produced furnishings that offered everything but a unique character to call its own.
When your back is against the wall, you can either accept the current circumstances as they are or you can change them. A few bold and influential people of the period chose the latter.
The Stickley Brothers were catalysts to a movement that would be known as mission style furniture (although Gustav Stickley is the name most notably tied to the style).
The scaled-back nature of the furniture would strike you as anything but rebellious. Compared to the Victorian furniture that preceded it however, you’d be wrong to call it anything but an act of rebellion.
Mission is a style that places emphasis on somewhat featureless panels and vertical and/or horizontal lines. What was the draw to this seemingly bland style? Nothing other than the natural beauty of the wood.
The wood, typically oak, was cut and arranged in such a way that the organic grain was allowed to take center stage as the main focal point.
Thanks to the bold nature of Stickley and others, their refusal to accept a tired style and less than quality products led to an important American furniture style that is now commonly known as American Craftsman.
Mission-style furniture is yet another example of how properly channeled rebellious attitudes can have a lasting, positive impact.