Quaint Furniture by Walter S. Mackay & Co., Oakland, Cal.

ca. 1905

Stickley Brothers

These plates have been variously dated. Winterthur Library, which holds a copy of this catalog, dates it to ca. 1910 (which seems a bit late), while the Grand Rapids Museum's version is dated there to 1903, though the reason for that is not part of their catalog record. The date of ca. 1905 assigned here is based on an October 1905, advertisement for Walter S. Mackay and Co., which stated: "In mission furniture we control Stickley Brothers' Grand Rapids productions in this country. This line is far superior to any other–for instance, introducing Spanish Morocco leather in the upholstering." This description is consonant with the evidence in the fifty-one plates presented in the variations of this catalog and helps explain the store's branded catalog. By the following year, line drawings from these plates were used in advertising for Stickley Brothers nationally, so a date of ca. 1905 aligns with all of the evidence.