Shelf unit
Object NameShelf unit
Manufacturer
Grand Rapids Chair Co.
((Grand Rapids, MI), 1872 - 1973)
Date1910
MediumOak and glass
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Bernice Graves. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object number74.31.7
Status
On viewCollections
CultureAmerican
Label TextThe Arts and Crafts Movement in America is probably best known for the furniture it produced. Indeed, many claim that the furniture of the period was the one truly American product of the movement. Most of the furniture was built in the Midwest, particularly in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The golden years of Grand Rapids' reign as "Furniture City" corresponded with the height of the Arts and Crafts influence on furniture design. Roycroft and Stickley may have conceived of the artistic elements of Arts and Crafts furniture, but it was the large manufacturers in Grand Rapids who translated their artistic designs into affordable items through mechanized production and successfully marketed them to the masses.
This bookcase is made by the Grand Rapids Chair Company which is a parent company of Lifetime Furniture. The company was founded by a partnership that included local lumber, sawmill, and furniture baron Charles Carter Comstock as president, along with officers Elisha Foote, Henry Fralick, and S.W. Worden. Elisha Foote ascended to the presidency of the company in 1900 and was responsible for bringing John E. Brower, Sr. from New York to Grand Rapids sometime in the 1890s. He served as the company’s chief designer until his death in 1915. Ads from the 1910s and ‘20s show dining room furniture, living room, and hall furniture, and spinet desks in a wide range of period styles.
Source: Adapted from Grand Rapids Furniture: The Story of America’s Furniture City by Christian G. Carron, published by the Grand Rapids Public Museum. 1998. http://www.furniturecityhistory.org/company/3553/grand-rapids-chair-co
PeriodArts and Crafts / Mission
Locations
- (not entered) Iowa State University, Farm House Museum
Object Name: Bookcase, top unit, Barrister style
Fred Macey Co.
1900's
Object number: 94.3.1
Object Name: Bookcase unit, Barrister style
1900's
Object number: 94.3.5
Object Name: Bookcase unit, Barrister style
1900's
Object number: 94.3.7
Object Name: Magazine Pedestal Stand (#80)
Roycroft
1904-1910
Object number: 74.33.1
