Buffalo Pottery for the Roycroft Inn, from "Roycroft Desktop." Demitasse cup and saucer, design attributed to Dard Hunter, hand-decorated and vitreous china, circa 1926. Collection of Robert and Kitty Turgeon Rust, Roycroft Shops, Inc.

 

Arts and Crafts Design

at The New York State Museum

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Furniture, paintings and other items illustrate the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in two exhibits at the New York State Museum in Albany through February 16.

"Roycroft Desktop" features more than 200 objects produced by the Roycroft Community in East Aurora, N.Y. "Arts & Crafts: From the Collections of the New York State Museum" features selections from the institution's outstanding holdings.

The items in "Roycroft Desktop" are from the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College. Featured are furniture, metal, tools and products of the book arts, paintings, and prints.

"Roycroft Desktop" focuses on the application of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic to the design of objects used in work and study, homes and businesses. Everyday items produced by the Roycroft Community, a self-contained community of craftsmen founded in 1895 by entrepreneur and marketer Elbert Hubbard and based on the medieval guild system, illustrate the development of Roycroft design from a utilitarian craftsman mode to the Arts and Crafts style.

The exhibit is organized into four vignettes, which include desks, tables, chairs, bookcases and desk accessories such as inkpots, letter openers, pen trays, bookends, lamps, bud vases, letter holders, blotters, calendars, candlesticks and framed mottoes. The items in the exhibit illustrate the evolution of one of the most outstanding design movements of the Twentieth Century.

The Roycroft movement eventually supported hundreds of craftsmen who produced not only furniture and metalwork but also leather goods, finely printed and bound books, and a series of monthly periodicals.

"Roycroft Desktop" was organized by the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, N.Y.

"Arts & Crafts: From the Collections of the New York State Museum" features furniture, metalware, pottery, and decorative arts from the Arts and Crafts movement. Highlights include a Gustav Stickley inlaid side chair designed by Harvey Ellis; a Gustav Stickley Chalet desk; and Roycroft furniture from the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora.