Jane Powell used to joke that the Arts & Crafts Revival has lasted longer than its original period of popularity. Although I am ever pining for my time machine, it gives me joy to know that there are many talented craftsman working in the style today, including these modern day Arts & Crafts lighting masters. Thanks to the world of the internet, it is easy to admire & purchase their work.
Ragsdale
Mission Style Oak & Mica Lamps & Lighting
“The Arts & Crafts lamp or Mission Style design is meant to capture the essence of old-time lamp makers and bring the art up one level.”
Craftsman Phillip D. Myer built his first Arts & Crafts style lamp in 7th grade woodshop & soon had a little craft show stand where he created Frank Lloyd Wright inspired items. 20 years later he began designing & drawing furniture seriously, & then started his first full time wood shop & studio & gradually, coming full circle, Arts & Crafts lighting became his main focus. Says Phil, “I spent many years living in the details of designing the 33 lamp designs I now do.”
Phil creates his lamps from quartersawn white oak, also termed “tiger oak.” This wood is obtained by slicing a log of high grade (few flaws, knots, etc.) into quarters & then cutting the boards to show the flame shape grain.
Years ago, he used to spend hours at the mill, hand-picking the heavy boards, searching for the flame, choosing only a small fraction of them & tossing the rest back into the pile. The mill owners objected to his taking the best pieces & he gladly offered to pay them a higher price for the better quality material. However, he never stopped searching for the most beautifully grained wood & today buys from a mill that provides lumber with the most pronounced & exquisite graining obtainable.
The light glows through authentic mica a naturally occurring mineral, which was originally mined near Asheville NC & stained glass, crafted in the U.S.
In 2010, Phil’s lighting was honored by being accepted by the Roycroft Copper Shop in the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora NY, placing his work on the same campus where Elbert Hubbard brought Arts & Crafts to our country.
As an extra bonus, Phil offers real acorn pull chains. He searches the forests of Michigan, returning again & again to the trees which produce the most perfectly shaped ones. He hollows the acorns & then fills the little cuties with epoxy to make them strong.
Taught by his father, Luke Marshall became an artisan at 13, crafting silver jewelry & sculpting metal. Later, he met the Spanish grandmaster silversmith, Ricardo Lopez de Grado who refused to teach him, but suggested that he copy his work. De Gardo himself was a descendant of goldsmiths, & his training was guided by his godfather. It was believed that De Grado was the only remaining artist who began a piece from a flat piece of metal, coaxing it into the shape desired with his hammer. Marshall uses this technique to create hollow forms, likely inspired by De Grado. As with De Grado, he also fashions his own tools.
In his mid-teens, when Marshall was told that his work was reminiscent of Roycroft copper, he researched the Roycrofters & “fell in love.” He then saw a Van Erp lamp in a newspaper, copied it & its popularity spurred him to continue making them.
Though he does make reproductions of Van Erp’s lamps, (as well as meticulously repairing lamps made by Van Erp 100 years ago) his pieces are uniquely his own, with every hammer strike bearing his signature touch. He also crafts his own designs, & offers custom work. As well as lamps, Marshall makes lidded copper boxes with highly detailed, applied relief.
Master glass artist, Carl Radke has been creating magnificent hand-blown luster glass lighting for 45 years. Lusterware contains silver to produce its beautiful sheen & after having first been created by Tiffany in 1881, lost favor in the mid-20’s.
In the 1970’s Radke helped inspire the Renaissance of American glass art, during a period of increased interest in the crafts. Please read more about this art form & its interesting technology here.
He also creates Arts & Crafts glass shades to fit your own lamps.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITES?
These are only three of the masters working in America today. No doubt there are some creating incredible lighting in Europe. I’d like to hear from you & learn whose lighting illuminates your bungalow.
THIS IS JUST ONE PART OF AN IN-DEPTH SERIES ON LIGHTING
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT SOME REPRODUCTION ARTS & CRAFTS LIGHTING RESOURCES
If you should feel more comfortable with modern light fixtures, below are some good reproduction Arts & Crafts lighting resources for you. I have chosen companies with longevity & good reputations. I always encourage my readers to perform their due diligence- check reviews & carefully, read product descriptions & shipping & purchasing/return terms- prior to buying.
I am always in search of quality vendors for my readership. Please let me know if you have any vendors that you would like would like to recommend.
Please read all the articles in this series to learn more about lighting. (All the links are at the bottom of the page.) It is a key design element in a room & can change the perceived size, shape, flow & mood of any space.
The Arroyo Guild of Fellow Craftsman, motivated by the Arroyo Seco, the seasonal river, often dry canyon, is considered to be the birthplace of Pasadena & the inspiration for the Gamble House. In 1909, the Arroyo Guild published its first pamphlet entitled “Arroyo Craftsman” which championed man’s innate need to create beautiful things with his own hands. Honoring these great artisans of the California Movement, Arroyo Craftsman lighting, was founded three-quarters of a century later.
Each Mission, Prairie or humble bungalow style is available in over 100 choices of sizes, finishes, glass, on a base of heavy gauge brass. These American made, fine architectural & landscape lighting pieces, are handmade to your custom order & aged by their special processes to have a natural, vintage appearance, which will continue to oxidize with age & become even more beautiful.
Their extensive catalogue of reproduction Arts & Crafts lighting resources can be accessed here. If you find all the choices intimidating, their designers are most helpful in assuring that you will make the perfect decision for your home. Their website includes links to retailers near you.
You can learn more about the Arroyo culture & view lovely Robert Winter videos here.
I restored 4 houses with their hardware- window hardware, hinges, pulls, knobs, push-button switches (which I highly recommend as a tactile connection to history. I spent way too much time clicking them on & off because I loved the sound & the sensation.) I also installed their lights in my bathrooms after rescuing them from various stages of hideousity.
This company demonstrates a profound respect for history, producing authentic, high quality reproductions & offering some original pieces as well. They have supplied hardware & done restorations on many projects for Federal, State, & local properties & have been featured in on television, in magazines & other national media as one of the top reproduction Arts & Crafts lighting resources.
Their Resource Center provides ideas & inspiration, displays the finishes that they offer, shows an informative architectural timeline & best of all, has a glossary of term related to historic hardware.
I have been extremely pleased each time with their products & their service.
No, they no longer produce this bat fixture, but if you look long enough, I’m sure that you’ll be able to find one hovering about on Craigslist or Marketplace or eBay or Etsy!
Rejuvenation began almost half a century ago as an architectural salvage shop in which the owner would restore vintage lighting. To fulfill the demand for fixtures, he began manufacturing reproduction pieces. I purchased a living room 4 arm chandelier & a 2-arm lamp for my 1925 California bungalow dining room in 2004. They looked great but the coolest part was that I was also able to order 4 custom sconces that were newly manufactured to compliment the antique pieces. Unfortunately they no longer create such items, but they do offer several glass & finish options in each style.
Though acquired by Williams-Sonoma in 2011, they still restore antique lighting & assemble their inspired pieces in Portland, Oregon.
Their knowledgeable design crew can help you with your choices.
Revival’s retail store is housed in a beautiful, old 7,000 square foot brick building in Spokane, Washington. Their display of merchandise is truly dazzling & artfully displayed. You can also order online & they will assist you on finding what you need.
This vendor was suggested to me by a reader who is a big fan & they have impressive reviews.
They feature an ever-changing inventory of antique lighting & also reproduction chandeliers, sconces, pendants & table & floor lamps. They seem to have an abundance of items that would be perfect in a bungalow!
Revival offers a good variety of finishes in their repro lighting- old gold, nickel, antique brown, pewter, & polished brass & they do repair also.
Additionally, they have some exceptional furniture. I saw a gorgeous armoire on their Facebook page!
EASIER ON THE BUDGET
Big Box stores & online lighting vendors do have some choices, but my preference is always the high price spread. That being said, it’s not just antique lighting that can be found used. I have seen a fair number of current fixtures on eBay & I imagine you might have good luck on Etsy & Marketplace & Craigslist too. You can put in the names of these manufacturers in the search & see what comes up. There’s also Habitat Restore. I overbought for my bathroom & donated a pricey, custom, multi-light sconce to Habitat.
THIS IS JUST 1 PART OF AN IN-DEPTH SERIES ON LIGHTING
My first submersion in Charles Rennie Mackintosh of Glasgow, was at a special exhibit at the Museum of the Arts & Crafts Movement in St. Pete Florida. It was astonishing to see many of the actual items that I had seen in books, only inches from my nose. The life & beauty of each one was overwhelming.
I had known little about the Glasgow School before attending the exhibit. It is an integral part of Mackintosh’s story both in his formative years & later, as his work, when he was commissioned to design the new building for the school.
Like many masters of the movement, Mackintosh had full control over every aspect of the buildings he designed- the structure itself, the furnishings, the art & even the tableware of the tearooms. In this exhibit I was able to view examples of all of them.
The exhibit also introduced me to his wife, Margaret Macdonald both muse & gifted artist. Their marriage was one of equality & romance & together they produced beautiful, innovative works of art. Of her, Mackintosh stated, “Remember, you are half if not three-quarters of all my architectural talents. Margaret has genius. I have only talent.”
THE VIDEOS
Curator’s Perspective: Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Cutting-Edge Tearoom Designs (1:08:33)
Frist Art Museum
Should you find yourself one day, feeling a little dumpish, & in need of inspiration, watch this video. It is a curated tour of the Charles Rennie Macintosh exhibit I was so fortunate to have seen at the museum. I had zoomed home, eager to know more about Macintosh & up popped this video. It rounded out the experience beautifully! It has a long intro. You might want to start watching at 00:10:00.
1/3 Charles Rennie Mackintosh – A Modern Man (:15:00)
Art Documentaries
A comprehensive look at the influences, the career & the art of Mackintosh, of Glasgow. The following 2 sections of the videos flow into one another.
TIP: For the complete Arts & Crafts experience, watch the videos about the Greene Brothers HERE!
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When I bought my 1910 Craftsman, my dear mother loaned me the money for the down payment. Shortly before the first payment was due, I found the perfect lamp for the library table in my entry. Its price was exactly the same amount as what I owed my mother that month, & after the restoration & the buying of furniture, I did not have the funds for both. With great reluctance I called her & asked if I could delay paying for a month. She gasped loudly, then expostulated, “Oh, Suzanne, you know the importance of correct lighting!”
I think I insulted her. This was a woman who had crystal chandeliers in her bathrooms. The sweet little Art Deco lamp that we had purchased together had traveled to 3 of her homes as she aged & downsized, each time being placed with much discussion & hung with great reverence.
So, yes Mama, I do know the importance of good lighting.You raised me right.
The woman who purchased my house bought the library table & the lamp because she could not imagine that anything could be more perfect in the space. Well, yeah.
Many other people think that lighting is important so I am going to allow them to explain it you.
THE VIDEOS- Arts & Crafts Lighting
An Interior Lighting Tip from Brett Waterman (1:15)
Old California
Here’s Brett sounding like my mother.
Brett Waterman Discusses Arts & Crafts Lighting (3:31)
Old California
I love Brett’s sincerity & passion as he talks about A& C lighting.
Arts & Crafts Lighting (2:03)
Active Interest Media
A basic overview of A&C lighting.
Arroyo Craftsman (6:39)
Betsy Levin
Craftspeople at work.
Mission Oak Arts and Crafts Style Lamp by Ragsdale (1:11)
Ragsdale Home Furnishings
Handmade from the most beautiful quartersawn white oak.
How did the Arts & Crafts Movement swim to America from England, & why did it look so different here?
Because of the vision of Gustav Stickley who went to Europe to study the movement where it originated, but felt that, “There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea.” Stickley transmogrified the art of Morris & friends into an American aesthetic while retaining Morris’ insistence on the value of honest materials inspired by nature, crafted by hand.
I was originally rather partial to English Arts & Crafts. When I furnished my 1910 Craftsman, the first 2 pieces of furniture that I loved with very different- one was English A & C the other was American Craftsman. They were destined for the same location in the dining room & I had to make a choice. I knew that this choice would determine the direction of every other piece & I agonized until my knees hurt from shifting from foot to foot on the concrete floor of the antique mall.
Because so much has been written about Stickley, I’m not going to even try to say anything new. I do recommend visiting Craftsman Farms & I highly recommend their online classes. Yes, they cost $ but those funds support the museum & the classes teach you everything you could ever want to know about the A & C Movement & about Stickley.
THE VIDEOS- Gustav Stickley & the American Arts & Crafts Movement
Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman (0:57)
Arts & Culture Guy
Another wonderful way to learn about the man as well as his art, is to watch the documentary film Gustav Stickley- American Craftsman. Below is a trailer for it. It follows his life, delves into his philosophy of life, work & beauty & its manifestation in his furniture, his magazine & his marvelous department store. You can purchase it on Prime. It’s a stellar production.
Gustav Stickley and the American Arts and Crafts Movement- Exhibition Tour (7:46)
The San Diego Museum of Art
A tour of an exhibition of Stickley furniture, showing the evolution of his design over the years.
Gustav Stickley- Crazy influencer and the making of the Craftsman style home
Brent Hull (9:13)
In this video, Brent describes Stickley as “an inspiring genius and reckless businessman who changed design and architecture,” & discusses his influence which is still felt today.
Tip: Watch all my preservation videos on YouTube HERE!!!
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“Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground.”
Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
Rather than trying to compose an educational post, I have curated this group of videos on Wright for 3 reasons, the main one being that no one explains Wright’s philosophy & work with more clarity than the man himself.
#2, nothing expresses his genius better than the buildings themselves. (How could you use words to describe Fallingwater? I stammer in my head just considering it!)
#3.These students & scholars of Wright possess 1,000 times more information & insight that I do & they have produced fascinating footage, including tours of his most iconic buildings, that will both inform & intrigue you. I spent a couple afternoons watching these videos & feel that I now understand this complex genius. My appreciation of his work has soared!
HEARING THE WORDS OF WRIGHT & SEEING HIS GENIUS BROUGHT TO LIFE
Frank Lloyd Wright: America’s Greatest Architect? | The Man Who Built America (59:33)
Timeline – World History Documentaries
This video is narrated by a Welsh architect who explores the influence of Wright’s Welsh background as he travels across the United States, visiting homes FLW designed & built. His commentary allows us to deeply understand the influences & philosophy that guided Wright’s eye & hand.
A Conversation with Frank Lloyd Wright (30:59)
Manufacturing Intellect
An interview in 1953 with Hugh Downs about Wright’s thoughts on American life & architecture. As always, Wright’s words are powerful & illuminating.
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School (53:15)
Manufacturing Intellect
This charming video features a soliloquy critiquing the architecture of the time, seguing into his design philosophy. Delivered in Wright’s own words, it is a charming peek into his brilliance & arrogance.
TIP: I have many beautifully done videos on my playlist from how to repair windows to the history of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Watch themHERE!
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
Sign up for our newsletter & receive our FREE E-book, 7 VITAL Things to Do Before You Hire a Contractor.
“The Arts & Crafts lamp or Mission Style design is meant to capture the essence of old-time lamp makers and bring the art up one level.”
The light glows through authentic mica a naturally occurring mineral, which was originally mined near Asheville NC & stained glass, crafted in the U.S.
Taught by his father, Luke Marshall became an artisan at 13, crafting silver jewelry & sculpting metal. Later, he met the Spanish grandmaster silversmith, Ricardo Lopez de Grado who refused to teach him, but suggested that he copy his work. De Gardo himself was a descendant of goldsmiths, & his training was guided by his godfather. It was believed that De Grado was the only remaining artist who began a piece from a flat piece of metal, coaxing it into the shape desired with his hammer. Marshall uses this technique to create hollow forms, likely inspired by De Grado. As with De Grado, he also fashions his own tools.
Master glass artist, Carl Radke has been creating magnificent hand-blown luster glass lighting for 45 years. Lusterware contains silver to produce its beautiful sheen & after having first been created by Tiffany in 1881, lost favor in the mid-20’s.
Part 1, OUT OF THE DARKNESS
If you should feel more comfortable with modern light fixtures, below are some good reproduction Arts & Crafts lighting resources for you. I have chosen companies with longevity & good reputations. I always encourage my readers to perform their due diligence- check reviews & carefully, read product descriptions & shipping & purchasing/return terms- prior to buying.
The Arroyo Guild of Fellow Craftsman, motivated by the Arroyo Seco, the seasonal river, often dry canyon, is considered to be the birthplace of Pasadena & the inspiration for the Gamble House. In 1909, the Arroyo Guild published its first pamphlet entitled “Arroyo Craftsman” which championed man’s innate need to create beautiful things with his own hands. Honoring these great artisans of the California Movement, Arroyo Craftsman lighting, was founded three-quarters of a century later.
I restored 4 houses with their hardware- window hardware, hinges, pulls, knobs, push-button switches (which I highly recommend as a tactile connection to history. I spent way too much time clicking them on & off because I loved the sound & the sensation.) I also installed their lights in my bathrooms after rescuing them from various stages of hideousity.
No, they no longer produce this bat fixture, but if you look long enough, I’m sure that you’ll be able to find one hovering about on Craigslist or Marketplace or eBay or Etsy!
Revival’s retail store is housed in a beautiful, old 7,000 square foot brick building in Spokane, Washington. Their display of merchandise is truly dazzling & artfully displayed. You can also order online & they will assist you on finding what you need.
Big Box stores & online lighting vendors do have some choices, but my preference is always the high price spread. That being said, it’s not just antique lighting that can be found used. I have seen a fair number of current fixtures on eBay & I imagine you might have good luck on Etsy & Marketplace & Craigslist too. You can put in the names of these manufacturers in the search & see what comes up. There’s also Habitat Restore. I overbought for my bathroom & donated a pricey, custom, multi-light sconce to Habitat.
My first submersion in Charles Rennie Mackintosh of Glasgow, was at a special exhibit at the 
When I bought my 1910 Craftsman, my dear mother loaned me the money for the down payment. Shortly before the first payment was due, I found the perfect lamp for the library table in my entry. Its price was exactly the same amount as what I owed my mother that month, & after the restoration & the buying of furniture, I did not have the funds for both. With great reluctance I called her & asked if I could delay paying for a month. She gasped loudly, then expostulated, “Oh, Suzanne, you know the importance of correct lighting!”
How did the Arts & Crafts Movement swim to America from England, & why did it look so different here?
“Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground.”