Modernism: American Arts & Crafts – Double Oval Table

Like Gustav Stickley and Elbert Hubbard, Charles Limbert championed the virtues of handmade oak furniture with simple lines and unadorned surfaces. But unlike them, Limbert frankly acknowledged his debt to such European designers as the Scotsman Charles Rennie Mackintosh. This table’s stretchers have square cutouts in a window-pane configuration, a motif generally attributed to Mackintosh. The dramatically tapering legs, however, are reminiscent of designs by the Vienna Secessionists. Regarded as Limbert’s finest design, the table was part of his line of furniture known as Holland Dutch Arts and Crafts.

Part of the Modernism Web site, featuring objects from the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and curator David Ryan, this video was originally produced in 1999. http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/