Welcome Back, Mr. Stickley.

                                   
       

Can the human soul be reborn from one generation to another?

Whoever wrote down the first Hindu scriptures in 800 B.C. believed so. Likewise Buddha, Lao Tzu, Pythagoras, even Henry Ford and George Patton; Patton swore he had previously been General Hannibal of Carthage.

I never thought much about the matter, personally; then I found this Arts & Crafts bridal chest made recently by a craftsman up in Michigan.

It is clearly the work of Gustav Stickley himself. Same sand-cast, hand-hammered copper hardware he used for his bridal chests in the early 1900s. Same close-grained, quarter-sawn oak. Same beautifully mortised joints.

The one thing that gives me pause is the price. Not cheap, exactly, but nothing like the $32,000 to $49,000 that Mr. Stickley's old chests go for today.

You'll have to be the judge here.

Arts & Crafts Bridal Chest (No. 3161). Dimensions: 25" high x 41" wide x 20-1/2" deep.

Price: $4,500, plus $195 shipping; ships from maker, pls. allow 4 to 5 weeks for delivery.

(Padlocks shown included.)

“The look of age is intensified by staining in tints and applying a soft, dull finish. Oak treated in this manner might well pass for the unaided work of nature and time.”

—G. Stickley