The New York First Company - Impeccable Gifts and Unique Wonders

Mission appeals to the American trait of rugged individualism, and the style is a return to simpler times and values. Its name, after all, refers to California’s massive but unpretentious Spanish Mission style. Mission’s no-frills look is also similar to that of the Shakers, a 19th century religious sect that lived simply while fostering a genius for good design.

Louis Comfort Tiffany seized upon the design elements of the Stickley pieces and began to produce lighting fixtures to match Mission furniture. There is a natural affinity between Mission and Tiffany's stained glass lamps, and even the jewel-like stained glass of Tiffany lamps helps soften Mission’s strict geometry.