What is Wrought in The Craftsman Workshops

1904

The Craftsman Workshops

Although Stickley did not mention this publication in the text of The Craftsman until November 1904, it first appeared in advertisement in the magazine as early as April of that year and was being distributed that month by retailers that carried his furniture. Earlier that year, An article in The Daily Saratogian from April 21, 1904 informed readers that "The many patrons and friends in town of the Wilmarth Company, furniture dealers of Saratoga and Glens Fall, are today receiving as a compliment of the firm, a handsome booklet entitled: "What is Wrought in the Craftsman Workshops.””

Because the 1904 Sales Journals preserved at the Winterthur Library demonstrate that some companies were already ordering forms from what would later become Catalogue D, the role this catalog played in the promotion of the firm’s latest work is somewhat misunderstood. It was not, clearly, simply intended as a catalog of the firm’s furniture as only twenty-five pieces were illustrated and none had the identifying numbers or prices to facilitate ordering. Published under the auspices of the “homebuilders club” it is tempting to view this catalog as a means to expand the architectural interests that Stickley was promoting, but even this is too narrow a reading. Indeed, What is Wrought in the Craftsman Workshops was more of a promotional booklet, detailing the burgeoning firm’s many industries from architecture, to textiles, to metalwork, to furniture, to The Craftsman and the philosophy that Stickley sought to instill in his audiences. It was a means to have distributors (rather than the firm) actively promote the company’s work and familiarize audiences with the breadth of production and aspects of the Craftsman Workshops production they might otherwise not see.

Historically, What is Wrought in The Craftsman Workshops reads as an announcement, testifying that the transition Stickley was attempting from revival-style maker to Arts and Crafts spokesperson was finally complete.