The link between Norman and Ernest Spittle from Birmingham in England and Art Fittings Limited based in London is well established. Art Fittings Limited was the London showroom for the Spittle Brothers.
When Gustav Stickley visited England in 1903 he visited the Art Fittings Limited showroom and bought at least 17 items which he duly took back to the United States. Many of the designs he purchased were soon replicated, produced and sold by Gustav Stickley from his own workshops. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly which pieces Stickley purchased in 1903. Some are obvious as they went on to become iconic Stickley pieces but others are harder to determine as they weren’t produced in the Stickley workshops.
Two recent important finds illustrate this well. The first is a brass coal bucket.