Is It Mission or Arts & Crafts Furniture?

…..are they antiques or are they new furniture pieces? Whatever you want to call them, they are some of the finest heirloom quality pieces made in the USA today.

The descriptive name “mission furniture” was first coined by Joseph McHugh, a New York furniture manufacturer, to describe his line of straight line rustic style furniture that he began producing about 1895. The mission style furniture design was based on a chair that had been designed for a church in San Francisco circa 1894-1895. The mission chair was a simple chair, the design of which was influenced by the Spanish missions of the area, thus the term “mission furniture”.

Mission furniture caught on as a generic term for the style of furniture and also the European term “art & crafts” was used to describe the American craftsman furniture. About the same time, Gustav Stickley (Stickly) was developing his own mission furniture designs. Many of the pieces had transitional designs that combined both Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles. But by the 1900’s, the mission designs became more straight lined and developed into the familiar mission style, as we know it.

For the most complete selection of mission style (Arts & Crafts) furniture check out the Amish Workbench Furniture website: www.amishwbf.com where you’ll find collections to satisfy every period preference:

• Classic Mission Collection: clean lines, subtle curves and dramatic height

• Grand Mesa Collection: pub table height for evening cards or afternoon tea

• Liberty Mission Collection: an upscale spin on the American Arts and Crafts movement

• Mission Collection: an American classic of unpretentious grace and simple sophistication

• Santa Cruz Collection: intricate cutouts and sloping angles define these show-stopping pieces

• Santa Fe Collection: instant sophistication confirms the classy Mission style of the southwest

…..so whether you call it Mission or Arts & Crafts this timeless styling is at home in both traditional and contemporary settings.