Stickley Music Cabinet
A harmonious combination of
details and materials.
O
ne hundred year s ago, when people wanted to lis ten to music
at home, they cracked their knuckles and headed for the piano.
This small cabinet was originally intended to store sheet music, and
although times have changed, it is a nice, small-scale piece of furniture.
The overall form is appealing, and much of the charm is in the
details. The exposed through-tenons in the cabinet often are seen in
Gustav Stickley furniture, but the joinery in the door is unusual. The
mitered intersections on the door are authentic to early Stickley pieces,
but within a few years these joints disappeared from production.
I found three variations of the joinery at the outer stiles: full miters,
partial miters and butt joints. I chose partial miters to maximize the
holding power of the joints while retaining at least some of the look.
I couldn’t fi nd an original example of this cabinet with that detail, but I
included it in this project because it adds to the charm and presence of
this piece. It was also an interesting and challenging exercise in joinery.
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