Magazine Pedestal Stand (#80)

Object NameMagazine Pedestal Stand (#80)

Manufacturer Roycroft (American (East Aurora, NY), 1895 - 1938)

Date1904-1910

OriginUSA

MediumWhite oak wood

Dimensions64 × 21 × 18 in. (162.6 × 53.3 × 45.7 cm)

ClassificationsFurniture

Credit LineGift of David L. Shugart. In the permanent collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames Iowa.

Object number74.33.1

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The striking Roycroft magazine stand anchoring the Farm House library was given to Dean of Agriculture Charles F. Curtiss by the class of 1901. The style of Roycroft Industries’ furniture was heavily influenced by the English Arts and Crafts Movement of the time. The Roycrofters were a community of highly skilled artisans in East Aurora, New York, who produced some of the ﬁnest examples of American Arts and Crafts decorative arts. The furniture was hand constructed of solid wood and fastened together by wooden pegs, pins, and mortise and keyed tenon joints—attributes emphasized in Roycrofters catalogs. Roycroft Industries, as it was known, produced neither the quantity nor variety of furnishings turned out by Gustav Stickley and other Mission-style makers, and today examples from its shop are rare. Charles F. Curtiss, the recipient of this magazine stand, lived in the Farm House with his family from 1897 to 1947 and served as Iowa State College’s ﬁrst Dean of Agriculture for thirty years. The 64 in. tall magazine stand features keyed tenons and canted sides with the Roycroft orb carved prominently on each side and has the inscription “1901 CFC” at the top. Dean Curtiss was an important ﬁgure in the development of Iowa State College’s new Agriculture department, especially regarding its international livestock breeding, judging team, and agricultural engineering program. Today, Dean Curtiss is held as one of the era’s most distinguished contributors to the science of agriculture.

MarkingsRoycroft name is stamped in side.

PeriodArts and Crafts

Locations