Behind the Design

A Bit of History about American Oak Furniture

August 25, 2014

Our American Mission Oak Collection is a beautiful example of traditional Mission furniture showcasing clean lines and a full-grain expression. If you aren't familiar with the history of this classic furniture, we can certainly help educate you a bit today.

Mission furniture is a style of furniture that originated in the late 19th Century. It traces its origins to a chair made by A.J. Forbes around 1894 for San Francisco's Swedenborgian Church. The term mission furniture was first popularized by Joseph P. McHugh of New York, a furniture manufacturer and retailer who copied these chairs and offered a line of stylistically related furnishings by 1898. The word mission references the Spanish missions throughout colonial California, though the design of most Mission Style furniture owed little to the original furnishings of these missions. The style became increasingly popular following the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901. The style was popularly associated with the American Arts and Crafts movement.

Mission style is a design that emphasizes simple horizontal and vertical lines and flat panels that accentuate the grain of the wood, often oak, especially quarter-sawn oak. People were looking for relief after the excesses of Victorian times and the influx of mass-produced furniture from the Industrial Revolution. The furniture maker Gustav Stickley produced Arts and Crafts furniture often referred to as being in the Mission Style, though Stickley dismissed the term as misleading. This was plain oak furniture that was upright, solid, and suggestive of entirely handcrafted work, though in the case of Stickley and his competitors, was constructed within a factory by both machine and hand-working techniques.

If you are a fan of Mission style furniture, our American Mission Oak collection embodies all the classic styling and full functionality for modern living. Made in the US with full-grain oak and oak veneers, this collection is available in eight (8) finish options to match your decor. Durable and beautiful this collection exemplifies a classic Mission and Southwestern style.

Browse our beautiful American Mission Oak Furniture line today!

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