Collection Spotlight: What’s inside?

Located on the 5th floor, this sideboard is constructed wholly of straight planes of wood. It is considered an important early work produced by Gustav Stickley because of its impressive scale and uncompromising presence. Normally on display with its doors closed, let’s take a closer look at what is inside. This sideboard is a work from Stickley’s “New Furniture” line in 1900, where his new designs revealed the Arts and Crafts aesthetics of simplicity, honesty in construction, and the natural beauty of pure materials.

Large in scale and imposing in form, this oak and chestnut sideboard is the only known example of this design. The sideboard’s architectural nature is enhanced by its straight plank construction, with a thick, beveled top above open shelves, and two paneled doors that open to display additional shelving and two central stacks of drawers. This simple yet bold piece perfectly embodies the firm's furniture-making aesthetics.