First major survey of work by furniture master Charles Rohlfs at the Huntington until Sept. 6

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When it comes to American Craftsman furnishings, Gustav Stickley is often considered the master. His mass-produced, catalog-sold chairs and tables flooded the market nearly a century ago and produced among the world’s first furniture brands. Less recognized, nevertheless, may be the work of Charles Rohlfs, a contemporary of Stickley, whose more eclectic but equally influential furniture is on exhibit at the Huntington Library through Sept. 6.

“The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs” showcases the designer who never got the attention that his competitor Stickley did. Yet prior to the Arts & Crafts Movement was “Rohlfs Style.” Rohlfs' concepts borrowed heavily from the 19th century Aesthetic movement (“art for art’s sake”), but as this show proves, his function is thoroughly original.

Rohlfs, initially trained in science, attended Cooper Union in New York for an art education, worked as a pattern maker and designer of cast-iron stoves. He even was an actor before he began to design furniture. It wasn’t until the 1890s that Rohlfs started making furnishings with the help of his wife, mystery novelist Anna Katharine Green.

Influenced by architect Louis Sullivan, Rohlfs' ornamental works belie their simple structures. “Rohlfs’s structures are generally quite plain with simple geometric shapes creating the overall framework, even where elaborate flourishes of carving are present,” writes Bruce Barnes, founder and president with the American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation, who provided the forward to the catalog.

Almost all of his pieces are oak, but each is uniquely and creatively carved and shaped. 1 may notice Japanese influences in a piece, Moorish or Scandinavian in another. Rohlfs_lampBut it is precisely this wide variety of decoration that makes these pieces uniquely Rohlfs'. “The form may be the ornamentation, and the ornamentation is the form,” writes Barnes. Sometimes the inspiration isn't so clear. For his striking 1898 desk chair, pictured at right, the trapezoidal backrest is decorated with patterns replicating the cellular structure of oak wood as seen via a microscope.

Among the 44 works in the exhibition are chairs, desks, tables and accessories such as plant-stands and lamps. Historic photographs, rare books and a short documentary are included as well.