A very simple, stolid bookcase designed by Harvey Ellis reached $20,000 (£12,270) but bidding for Stickley this time peaked at $29,000 (£17,790) for the grandfather clock. The sale also contained the usual mix of art pottery, lamps and the like, and of course an entire section devoted to furnishings of the 1950s to the present day which this time saw pieces by George Nakashima much appreciated – a coffee table constructed of a walnut slab (inset with rosewood butterfly joint to the top) with one free or rough edge, perched on two dowel legs and a smaller slab, sold at $9500 (£5830).
One special feature of this May sale was a collection of Arts & Crafts textiles formed by Chris Walther and Susan Stockton, who by trawling through a complementary collection of hundreds of old embroidery catalogues and magazines, had been able to identify the makers of around half the items in the collection.
Stickley’s time has come again in Ohio
The ARTS & CRAFTS section of the most recent of the 20th Century Art & Design sales to be held in Cincinnati by Treadway & Toomey Galleries partnership on May 3 kicked off with a Gustave Stickley dining table at $12,000 (£7360), and Stickley pieces of all shapes and sizes popped up regularly thereafter.
