Stephen Gray Honored at Arts & Crafts Conference

Author and publisher Stephen Gray was presented with the Arts & Crafts Lifetime Achievement Award on February 19 at the 24th National Arts & Crafts Conference held at the Historic Grove Park Inn overlooking Asheville, NC.

Stephen Gray was among a handful of individuals who in the 1970s recognized the importance of the Arts & Crafts movement in America. At that time the furniture of Gustav Stickley, the pottery of Grueby, Teco and Marblehead and the metalware of Robert Jarvie, the Roycrofters and the Kalo Shops had long been overlooked and under-appreciated.

Stephen Gray, however, while a voracious collector, recognized the need to share his discoveries with a larger public. When he came upon one of the original catalogues issued between 1901 and 1915 by Gustav Stickley, he set upon his task of finding and publishing other such catalogues. By 1979 he had begun reprinting catalogues by Gustav Stickley, L. & J.G. Stickley, Charles Limbert and the Roycrofters.

The value of these reprint catalogues to Arts & Crafts collectors cannot be exaggerated. Long before the launching of “Style 1900” and “American Bungalow” magazines, long before Arts & Crafts books began to cover coffee tables, long before the first Arts & Crafts conferences, these small reprints provided collectors with the vital information needed to identify and distinguish the work of the major Arts & Crafts designers and manufacturers from the plethora of imitations which soon followed.

Had he kept these original catalogues to himself, as many early collectors did, Stephen Gray could have eliminated much of the competition he faced for key pieces. Instead, he shared his research with the general public through his publishing company, Turn of the Century Editions, and, later, by loaning examples from his collection to major Arts & Crafts exhibitions. Ultimately many of these pieces were donated by Gray to public institutions where they continue his goal of educating Arts & Crafts collectors.

After the award presentation at the Grove Park Inn, Stephen Gray returned to Connecticut for the hip-replacement surgery he had postponed in order to appear at the annual Arts & Crafts Conference. His surgery was successful and Stephen is already enrolled in physical therapy. If you would like to drop Stephen a note or card, email us at info@ArtsAndCraftsCollector.com and we will forward his mailing address to you.

Thanks to Ray Stubblebine for the photographs. (top) Stephen Gray and the hammered copper tray commissioned from Michael Adams and Dawn Hopkins of Aurora Studios. (Place cursor on to enlarge tray.) (lower) Long time friend Ed Friedman recounts his collecting experiences with Stephen Gray for the audience.

- Bruce Johnson