George Schastey, Cabinetmaker

The name George Schastey has popped up in relation to the unidentified museum cabinet from the prior post. I think it's important to raise his profile and become a little more familiar with this important cabinetmaker and his history. His work is up there with the best of the best and if I had a Herter Brothers budget, I'd be finding me some Schastey pieces to add to my collection. Information on George Schastey's history is slim. Adding to the challenge of digging some up is that Google searches for information on Schastey get co-mingled with results for an architect named George Schastey, Jr., which I can only assume was his son. According to 'MissLilyBart' in the comments from this earlier post, Schastey got his start in 1869 and was done by 1897. What I find interesting is that Schastey appears to have spent his early years (at least some of them) working directly for Pottier & Stymus. It wasn't until 1873 that he was on his own. In the following years, partners came and went and eventually Pottier & Stymus sued Schastey for rent that he owed them. He eventually ended up in Springfield, Massachusetts making the more modest furniture popular in the 1890s. The photo above is of a cabinet that Joan Bogart shared with me that she sold years ago to the High Museum which was made by Schastey and below is his cabinet from the Centennial Exhibition.

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