by Bob Lang
This is a reproduction of a piece originally made in the early 20th century by Gustav Stickley in the Craftsman Workshops in Syracuse, New York. I built this in late 2009 and it was featured in an article in the February 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine. The glass in the doors is from Kokomo Opalescent Glass and is a close match to what would have been used in the early 1900s. The hand-hammered copper door pull was made by Gerry Rucks. More information about Gustav Stickley and his furniture can be found on my website https://readwatchdo.com and in my book "Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture." One deviation I made from original examples of this piece is in the joinery of the center mullion and muntons for the door. Existing No. 70 music cabinets have a simpler cross lap joint, but earlier pieces from Stickley had the mitered mullions as seen here. That detail was used in early production pieces, but changed early on. I wanted to explore that joinery so I took the liberty of incorporating it in this piece. My theory was that this detail was dropped because it is very fussy and takes a long time. The result looks very cool, but the effort reinforces my theory. All of the other joints are through mortise and tenons locked together with pegs. The back is frame and panel with shiplapped panels. Some originals had this type of back and later examples use oak veneer plywood in place of shiplapped boards.