Small Bookcase

1901-02

The United Crafts

45 x 39 x 12 inches.

This is a diminutive form with no kick board and heavy, almost oversized keyed tenons. The form is not dissimilar to Book Cabinet (no. 525) at a smaller scale, although the tenons are more ornate than those that appeared in the drawing for that form. A version of the bookcase sold at Fontaine’s Auction House on November 17, 2012. The dimensions indicated come from that sale.

Little is known about this bookcase, and had it not appeared in the June 1902 issue of The Craftsman, it may have gone unnoticed altogether. Yet, it must have been designed more than a year earlier since an example of it was clearly visible in the United Crafts display for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, which opened on May 1, 1901. Two photographs of the firm’s display were published in the second issue of The Craftsman, November 1901.

The Craftsman 2 (June 1902), following 152.

Oak (The Craftsman)