Stickley’s American-made Mission furniture holds an enduring place in the history of design. Reissued in April 1989, it continues to celebrate the honest materials, clean, practical forms, and lasting craftsmanship that defined it from the start of the 20th century.
For a limited time, enjoy special savings on the Stickley Mission Collection at your nearest Stickley dealer.
Our Mission collection is handcrafted in Upstate New York from the highest-quality hardwoods. Solid American white oak is quartersawn to reveal ray flake patterning that makes each piece unique, and solid American black cherry develops a rich patina over time.
Visible, dependable construction features like mortise-and-tenon joinery, quadralinear posts, and side-hung, center-guided drawers were perfected by Leopold Stickley to make Mission furniture exceedingly strong and long-lasting.
To highlight every detail of the wood’s grain, we use only clear, hand-applied finishes in a variety of tones, each one chosen to best show off the intrinsic beauty of the species.
Oak that is sawn parallel to the medullary rays is known as quartersawn. This type of cut produces boards of exceptional strength and reveals the prized ray flake patterning that makes each piece of oak furniture unique. Quartersawn white oak is much less likely to crack, check, or warp than oak that is flat sawn. This method is used in Mission style construction exclusively.
This technique allows the beauty of ray flake to appear on all four sides of a post, rather than on just the normal two. To achieve this, four quartersawn boards are mitered together around a solid core, increasing the strength and beauty of the post.
In this distinctive form of tenon found in Arts and Crafts furniture, a wedge-shaped “key”is inserted into a tenon that passes through the side of a board to secure it in place. This traditional and highly effective mechanical joint gives exceptional strength and rigidity to the furniture.
The center guide keeps drawers from skewing sideways. Side suspension keeps drawers level when heavily loaded. No plastic parts to break. No metal to rust and scratch. Just honest-to-goodness hand craftsmanship. The drawer never scrapes the bottom and opens and closes with ease—forever.
Key to Arts and Crafts furniture quality and durability are mortise-and-tenon joints. A single Stickley chair can have more than 30 such joints. A blind tenon is concealed within the mortise, while in a through-tenon (shown above) the end of the tenon is visible and is part of the form of the piece. Tenons, whether blind, through, pinned, or keyed, are the very best way to join furniture together.
Solid wood varies greatly in grain and color. Proper matching of individual boards gives the appearance of one solid piece and eliminates the need to bleach or sap-stain the lumber. The tongue and groove ensure a stronger glue joint that does not crack or split and allows for greater finished thickness on all tops.
