A Museum for Arts & Crafts Enthusiasts, Photo Collection
If you are a fan of all things Arts & Crafts, you might consider a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, to visit the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement (MAACM). From the museum’s website:
Consisting of more than 2,000 objects related to the American Arts & Crafts movement, the collection represents the full range of decorative and fine arts produced by individual artists, craftsmen, and companies of the period c. 1890–1930. There are outstanding, rare, and one-of-a-kind examples of furniture, pottery, ceramic tiles and architectural faience, metalwork, woodblocks, fine art, lighting, textiles, and leaded glass.
The Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida.
MAACM is the passion project of Rudy Ciccarello, a businessman, art collector and philanthropist. During the last decades of the 20th century, he amassed a remarkable collection of antiques from the Arts & Crafts movement.
In the early 2000s, the Two Red Roses Foundation (tworedroses.com) was formed and endowed with the majority of Ciccarello’s collection. Construction of the MAACM was started in 2015. It opened in 2021, having reportedly cost more than $90 million to build.
Below are photographs of a tiny portion of the objects on display in the museum.
This chair and server are part of a complete, 15-piece dining room set on display at the museum. The furniture was created in 1910 by Minneapolis designer John S. Bradstreet.
A pendant lamp from the National Farmers’ Bank in Owatonna, Minnesota, The bank was designed by Louis H. Sullivan and George Grant Elmslie. The 1908 building is still in use as a bank today, and after extensive restoration, looks much as it did when it was built.
Table lamp with tiger lily art glass design, from the 1912 E.L. King House (“Rockledge”) in Homer, Minnesota. The lamp was designed by George W. Maher, who also designed the house. It was razed in 1987.
Tall clock designed by George W. Maher for the E.L. King House in Homer, Minnesota.
The Iris Bathroom. The floor, walls and ceiling of this 1914 room are covered with Grueby tiles in saturated blues, greens, golds and creams. The lower wall tiles depict blooming irises, while the blue hexagonal floor ties are surrounded by a border of lily pads in bloom. The overall effect is that of floating in a serene pond.
Copper and enamel sconce, circa1908. Attributed to designer Eva M. Macomber of the Society of Arts + Crafts, in Boston.
A very rare mirror, c. 1905, from the Newton School of Metalwork. The text in the hammered and repoussé copper panel reads “LOOK BUT LINGER NOT.”
Serving table (model no. 8616), c.1904, made by Stickley Brothers of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
One-of-a-kind copper jardiniere, c.1903–17, designed and made by Robert Riddle Jarvie. The piece depicts scenes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Oil painting titled “A Brown Study,” by Gertrude Fiske. Best known for her figural paintings, Fiske’s early portraits of attractive young women and men were popular in Boston. In this example, a young woman adorns herself with a gold and pearl necklace that complements her loose aesthetic dress. Fiske debuted this painting at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts’ 108th Annual Exhibition in 1913.
A large “daisy vase” from the Grueby Pottery Co. Its design is attributed to Ruth T. Erickson, and it was modeled in clay by Ellen R. Farrington. The vase is one of four examples known to exist, all of them in museums.
The interior of a front door, part of an entire entry hall that is installed in MAACM. The hall was originally in a house in Pasadena, California, that was designed by Charles and Henry Greene. The hall was removed in the 1950s during a renovation.
A Stickley piano made by Craftsman Workshops in Eastwood, New York, in 1909. An upright piano was a common sight in middle-class homes in the early 20th century. Stickley began offering Craftsman-style pianos in 1903. But because of high production costs and expensive retail prices, he saw extremely limited success in marketing them. The museum’s example is one of only five Stickley pianos known to exist.
