A mission coffee table is only one of many different pieces of this style of furniture that is currently very much in demand.
The mission style was developed by Americans who had followed the Arts and Crafts movement in England. Gustav Stickley, one of the leaders of the mission style, was greatly influenced by L’art nouveau in Europe and the Arts and Crafts movement in England. He originally worked as a stone mason before becoming involved in woodwork. There is a chance that your original mission coffee table was made by prison inmates as at one point Stickley used the prison laborers to do some of the basic manual work in his workshop.
He employed superbly skilled people to work on his designs. These craftsmen were frustrated by the poor quality mass produced furniture typically provided by the industrial revolution. They weren’t fans of Victorian furniture either as it was far too extravagant for most people’s budgets.
They wanted a return to natural locally sourced materials to build furniture whose owners would be happy to pass onto the next generation. They didn’t create massive numbers of the mission coffee table, each piece was lovingly created paying attention to the grain and cut of the oak or cherry wood used. Huge attention to detail means that any piece of this style of furniture will add grace to your home.
Usually the mission coffee table will be made purely from wood but some pieces may have a pewter inlay. The lines of the design of the table top will be straight as will be the legs. Flat rather than curved feet show that the piece is from this era. Some models will have drawers. The oak wood used would predominantly be American white oak although it was probably treated with ammonia to give it a darker finish but it will never have been painted, at least not originally.
If you cannot afford an original mission coffee table, there are many replicas on sale and it is also possible to build your own. Obviously you would need some skills in furniture making. There are a lot of books around which will help you to achieve the finished product.
All mission furniture was created to be useful rather than pretty but the skill with which they were made makes original pieces fairly easy to identify. It is rather ironic that Stickley actually ended up bankrupt as his style of furniture lost favor yet his pieces today can command quite high prices.
Regardless of the style of home you have, whether it is a loft apartment or a large country property a mission coffee table will not be out of place.
