When A&C J o i n e r y
Becomes Decoration
A large part of the appeal of Arts and Crafts style furniture
is the apparent lack of decoration. This project, a reproduc-
tion of a Gustav Stickley No. 70 music cabinet and a detail
I’ve borrowed from similar pieces is the reason for using the
word "apparent". I’ve always liked this little cabinet, it’s just
under four feet high, and only 20 inches wide. The detail I
borrowed, mitered mullions on the door, and the idea of plain,
unadorned furniture is hard to reconcile. As I worked on the
door, I came to realize that there isn’t any practical reason to
put a glass door on a cabinet to store sheet music, and joining
the parts of the door this way is just showing off.
I’ve always liked this detail where the cross pieces that divide
the door join the center stile with what appear to be simple
miters, and it was an intriguing challenge to fi gure out how it
was done and then to execute the joinery. I found three varia-
tions of joints on the other end, and decided to take a middle
of the road approach. Some pieces I’ve seen are straightfor-
ward mortise and tenon joints where the mullions butt against
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