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William Morris(1834-1896 ) Was the driving force behind the English Arts and Crafts movement.
John Ruskin (1819-1900) Was an early proponent of Arts and Crafts ideals.
Gustave Stickley(1858-1942) Known as the father of the American Arts and Crafts movement.
Joseph Marbella(1867-1947) Inspired Italian master craftsman.
Also inspired by these pioneers of craftsman style furniture was Charles Greene (artist), Henry Greene (engineer) and John and Peter Hall master craftsman from Stockholm Sweden. Beginning in Pasadena California, around 1904 the Green's got the contract to build the Gamble house and its furnishings. The teaming of their talents using these pioneers designs as a foundation to build from allowed the Greenes and Halls to produce furnishings that were a higher quality than Gustave Stickley's mass produced designs. The Greenes and Halls designs were all one of a kind furnishings. No unfinished backs or bottoms. Attention to detail was the order of the day. Function and style was kept in mind but foremost the focused was on the highest quality. These furnishings were mostly built for the privileged few such as the Gambles, Fords, Blackers, and Robinsons to name a few of the famous and ultra rich of the time period. This allowed Greene and Greene to be able to build what was called the Ultimate Bungalows. Not only were these vacation homes state of the art in their time but the furnishing were also custom built to fit each customers wants and needs with no thought of them ever being mass produced. This allowed the Greenes to build investment quality furnishing that would stand the test of time. Today you will find Stickly furnishings in many antique stores around the country. However a Greene & Greene can only be found in museums or in the homes of wealthy collectors.
Just a few miles away in Riverside County the Marbella brothers, master craftsman in their own right,are influenced by these builders, designers, and master craftsman. They notice they are practicing their craft in a way consistent to their own family values taught to them in Italy. These Italian immigrants with meager finances and no big money connections had a parcel of land and began to process lumber and manufacture in Arizona.
Every creative enterprise is always built on a foundation that was laid down by its predecessors. People who themselves were in turn dependent on the groundwork laid down by those who came before. Gustave Stickley's impact was felt far and wide at the time, he became a major factor in American furniture design. Gustave Stickly and the Greene's and Halls were the greatest early influence on the Marbella brothers concepts. These pioneers had laid down the foundation that the Marbella brothers would build upon in America.
Still building upon this foundation,is a direct decedent of the Marbella brothers. World renown artist, master craftsman in his own right and designer H.J.Nick carries on to this day the same ideals, methods and master craftsmanship.
Today known as Scottsdale Art Factory located in Scottsdale Arizona this factory is currently building some of the worlds finest handmade entrance doors, hand carved theme doors, custom investment quality furniture, hand-forged lighting chandeliers and hardware. All built to world class standards set down by these predecessors.
H.J.Nick's Scottsdale Art Factory is one of the largest handmade in America manufacturers. Featuring a state of the art design department headed by H.J.Nick himself. Designs built today are a joint collaboration between the customer and their design department. Using high tech and low tech these investment quality designs are limited only by the customers imagination.
Staying true to Gustave Stickly's American arts and crafts principals. Using Greene and Greene and Halls philosophy of raising the bar to the finest investment quality Scottsdale Art Factory has been able to continue to raise the bar even more. By training the nearly lost art of the master craftsman. Scottsdale Art Factory is able to maintain a consistent staff of the finest blacksmiths, woodcarvers,stone smiths, wood-rights and the many other tradesman necessary to build investment quality products. Without compromising the true sprite of the American Arts and Crafts movement each product is built by hand with attention to detail in the age old tradition(no paste boards, plywoods, or faux materials). No matter your if need is a custom door, lighting chandelier, furnishing, or piece of hardware it is guaranteed to stand the test of time . Recommended reading Darrell Peart's book on Greene & Greene
