I am looking to buy the new or used, morris mission gliders chairs,
sofa and loveseat set by Skillcraft based in North Carolina, USA. They
have ottomans like glide as well. However, they went out of business
in 2001. I don't particularly care about the color or condition of the
ulphostery though I care that the gliding mechanism is in great shape.
Can anyone help me find surplus supply, display models or used
skillcraft gliders. also if you can find similar quality morris style
gliders in a 3 person seater, let me know. there are a lot of cheap
looking ones out there and many manufacters that make oneseater.
the skillcraft ones look like this:

http://www.rocking-chairs.com/mission_glider.htm

http://www.rocking-chairs.com/mission_gliding_loveseat.htm

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Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 30 Jul 2005 20:59 PDT

Hello plato1000-ga: 

As you undoubtedly know, antique and/or high-quality mission furniture
is very hot right now, so it?s especially tough to find full vintage
sets of Morris/Skillcraft, but I did manage to find some more
contemporary, high-quality sets in that same style.

I also found antique mission-style Morris glider chairs and
mission-style loveseats sold separately (but not matched sets).

I have also managed to locate just a few three-seaters (they?re just
about impossible to find, though), including one with a reclining
back.

Would that information ? and I have quite a few listings for you ? be
sufficient for an acceptable answer?

The keyword ?Skillcraft? isn?t yielding many results, but again, I am
finding a good assortment of Morris gliders (antique and modern) and
good mission-style loveseats and sofas, plus matched, high-quality
mission-style contemporary sets.

Best Regards,
nancylynn-ga
Google Answers Researcher

---

Clarification of Question by plato1000-ga on 31 Jul 2005 12:38 PDT

hi nancylynn,

>I also found antique mission-style Morris glider chairs and
>mission-style loveseats sold separately (but not matched sets).


single morris glider chairs are easy to locate. I am looking for
gliding mission style loveseat and sofa. i believe skillcraft are the
only ones making these latter 2.

>I have also managed to locate just a few three-seaters (they?re just
>about impossible to find, though), including one with a reclining
>back.

is it a gliding 3 seater?? this is very important--I can find mission
style furniture anywhere--i need them to be all GLIDING.

>Would that information ? and I have quite a few listings for you ? be
>sufficient for an acceptable answer?

please clarify questions above and i will let you know. i would also
like to know the former owners of Skillcraft in NC, I would pay money
to find that information out and what their contact information is.

thanks



The keyword ?Skillcraft? isn?t yielding many results, but again, I am
finding a good assortment of Morris gliders (antique and modern) and
good mission-style loveseats and sofas, plus matched, high-quality
mission-style contemporary sets.

Bes>>>t Regards,

---

Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 31 Jul 2005 14:43 PDT

I have found only a few high-quality mission-style loveseats with
gliders ? but they?re not Skillcraft (as far as I can tell). One is an
antique, large, mission-style loveseat with a ?reclining back.?

The mission-style three-seater I found was custom-made and it?s quite
possible the maker could build one for you with the glider feature.
(This company builds Morris glider style chairs.)

Again, ?Skillcraft? led me down mostly blind alleys. The term ?Morris?
seems to have become the keyword for furniture that glides ? it?s as
if Skillcraft is forgotten. (Kind of like how people have always said,
?Sears,? and dropped the ?Roebuck.?)

I did find a site for North Carolina furniture manufacturers where you
can submit an inquiry for Skillcraft furniture, but I can?t locate the
former owner of Skillcraft.

I have also found plenty of high-quality, mission-style Morris chairs and ottomans.

Would you be satisfied with this information?

---

Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 31 Jul 2005 16:27 PDT

Just letting you know, I found out which company bought out
Skillcraft. I'll be posting an answer shortly.

I?m very sorry. I made a gaffe in my last RFC: I have a relative who
recently retired from the furniture business and she told me that
Skillcraft was bought out by Dutailier of Montreal, Canada.

Since posting the RFC that I knew who?d bought Skillcraft, that
relative told me she realized she?d made an error: Skillcraft went out
of business completely; it wasn?t acquired by anyone. (I can?t find
any information about Skillcraft?s former owners.)

The store where she worked switched to Towne Square glider loveseats
after Skillcraft went under. She said Towne Square is absolutely
comparable to Skillcraft in quality.

Dutailier acquired Towne Square several years ago ? about the same
time Skillcraft went under, thus her confusion! (I am very sorry about
that mix-up.)

Although I?ve found closer matches to what you want in loveseats,
since I started out discussing Dutailier, let?s start there:

DUTAILIER/TOWNE SQUARE

Dutailier?s homepage is:
http://www.dutailier.com/003/002/?locId=4105

Their contact information can be found at:
http://www.dutailier.com/007/?locId=4105 

Check out their ?Collections? page:
http://www.dutailier.com/000/?locId=4105

Click on ?Towne Square,? and you?ll see a link at left for ?Mission
Gliders,? which bring up:
http://www.dutailier.com/005/004/001/s2.asp?Family=TS&locId=4105

Clicking on ?4 Post Gliders? at left brings up:
http://www.dutailier.com/005/004/001/s3.asp
The chair at far right appears to be a two-seater, but it isn?t quite
like the mission style pieces you cited.

Still, that?s the only Dutailier loveseat with glider I could find. (I
couldn?t find Dutailier sofa with glider.)

I think it would be worthwhile for you to call Dutailier directly and
tell them what you?re looking for. (Of course, you may be interested
in some of the chairs there at this site.)

If it turns out Dutailier can?t help you, please try ?Manufacturers
and lines represented by
Carolina Retailers,? including Skillcraft:
http://www.ncfurnitureonline.com/furn-lst.htm
Fill out this information Request Form to inquire about Skillcraft:
http://www.ncfurnitureonline.com/furn-lst.htm

Also try The Chair Shop in Alexandria, VA, which, according to one hit
I got for a cached link, carries Skillcraft:
http://www.bguide.net/thechairshop/factories.html
However, in exploring their Web site, I couldn?t find manufacturers?
names next photos of the chairs, so am not sure of which brands are
represented here:
http://www.chairshop.com/products.htm
You can contact The Chair Shop directly to see if they have what you want:
Phone: 703-750-3351  
E-mail: info@chairshop.com 

DUTAILIER MORRIS-STYLE GLIDER CHAIRS & OTTOMANS/MISSION-STYLE:

The Nurture Center:
http://shop.nurturecenter.com/duglmistmo10.html

Gramma?s Furniture:
http://www.grammasfurniture.com/shopsite/product236.html

LOVE SEAT/SOFA GLIDERS/MISSION-STYLE

?Love Seat Glider? is listed at this page of mission furniture at
Tegeler?s Amish Furniture:
http://www.tegeleramishfurniture.com/entertainment.html
Tegeler?s site doesn?t do a perfect job of identifying pieces ? I
think it?s the sofa at right, but am not sure -- so you may have to
ask them to mail or fax you a photo of their ?Love Seat Glider,? if it
isn?t pictured here.

Contact information for Tegeler:
http://www.tegeleramishfurniture.com/contact.html

Phil Taylor Antiques has a large, mission-style loveseat with a
?reclining back? (In my RFC, I mistakenly referred to it as an antique
piece ? it isn?t), which you can see at the top, right side of this
page:
http://www.philtaylorantiques.com/new/index.php 

Contact Phil Taylor Antiques:
Phone: 641-682-7492 
E-mail: info@philtaylorantiques.com

Wood Makers Furniture has quite a few gliders, including the ?Highback
Loveseat Glider? (at right, near bottom of the page):
http://www.woodmakersofmacomb.com/living_room.html

Wood Makers Furniture?s site isn?t fully functional yet, so
exploration here is limited. Here?s some information about the
company:
http://www.woodmakersofmacomb.com/
And here?s their contact information:
Order Form: http://www.woodmakersofmacomb.com/order.html
E-mail Address: woodmakr@macomb.com

St. John?s Wood Shop has a mission-style ?Gliding Love Seat?:
http://www.johnswoodshop.net/index/4020.htm

St. John?s also has a Morris Mission Chair:
http://www.johnswoodshop.net/index/dsc01848.htm
Click on ?Living Room? at left to bring up more mission-style pieces at:
http://www.johnswoodshop.net/index/living_room.htm
At the bottom of that page see mission-style loveseat, sofa, and
glider chair in matching upholstery, plus an additional mission sofa.
But I?m not sure if the loveseat and sofa are gliders.
 
Contact John?s Wood Shop:
http://www.johnswoodshop.net/contact_us.htm
Phone: 330-893-3448
Toll free: 1-888-597-7467
E-mail: johnswoodshop@verizon.net 

Old Tyme County Oak?s has mission gliders. This is a ?Regular Mission
Double Glider? ? at left, about midway down the page -- that may be
intended as outdoor furniture, but it looks to me like you could have
it upholstered:
http://www.pureoak.com/rockers/

There are additional ? 4-Poster Glider Loveseats,? but not necessarily
mission-style, at the bottom of that page.

Old Hippy has a recliner sofa in mission-style (if I understand them correctly):
http://www.oldhippy.com/catalogframesofa.html
That page is a bit confusing; I?m not sure if they mean the sofa
reclines (that seems to be what they mean!) or if they?re referring to
the chair shown on the same page.

You can e-mail Old Hippy to double-check at oldhippy@oldhippy.com.  

OTHER RESOURCES:

THREE-SEATER

Prairie Style Furniture sells antiques and makes made-to-order
furniture. They have a mission-style three-seater, but this doesn?t
appear to be a glider:
http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=%22three-seat%22+AND+Morris+OR+Skilcraft&ei=UTF-8&fl=0&u=www.strictlymission.com/Prairie%2520Style.html&d=80CB0A39DC&icp=1&.intl=us
Since Prairie Style custom-makes furniture, they may be able to make a
glider version of this for you.

This was the only three-seater I could find, period.

At Prairie?s ?Restored? page, you can see antique Morris chairs for
sale, but I?m not sure if they?re gliders:
http://www.strictlymission.com/Restored.html
(Scroll down the page almost midway, looking to the left of the page
to find Morris.)

You can contact Prairie Style Furniture:
610-797-8640 or toll free at 866-647-7466

ANTIQUE/CUSTOM-MADE & REPRODUCTION MORRIS/MISSION-STYLE FURNITURE:

Though the chairs listed in this section are gliders, the loveseats
and sofas don?t appear to be. However, some of these companies
custom-make furniture and may well be able to build you a sofa and
loveseat in mission style, with glider, per your specifications.

Amish Alley:

See the Bow Arm Morris Glider Chair (Also available in Loveseat design): 
http://www.amishalley.com/living-room/rocking-chair-bow-arm-morris-glider.html

Amish Alley also carries the ?Morris Chair with Side Panels?: 
http://www.amishalley.com/living-room/chair-1600-morris-panels.html
Matching pieces for that chair include ?Loveseat, Sofa and Chair;
Glider and Rocker; Coffee, End and Sofa Tables.?
Just click on a key word in that hyperlink to bring up the relevant
link; e.g., click ?Loveseat,? to bring up this page:
http://www.amishalley.com/living-room/sofa-1600-set.html 

Amish Touch has the Bow Arm Morris Chair with Ottoman:
http://www.amishtouch.com/detailpage.asp?ID=133&Category=Living%20Room

You can contact Amish Touch at 360-308-8338.
Or send them a question at this page:
http://www.amishtouch.com/default.htm

Prime Furnishings has the Morris Mission chair with matching sofa,
loveseat, and ottoman. At this link see the chair and ottoman
information:
http://www.primefurnishings.com/amish/living/chairsofas_qf_1600morrischairwithpanels.htm

Then click on the hyperlink ?Matching Pieces Include Loveseat, Sofa
and Chair; Glider and Rocker; Coffee, End and Sofa Tables.?

Furniture4Less currently has an American Themes Morris Mission style set available:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AMERICAN-THEMES-MISSION-STYLE-SOFA-MORRIS-CHAIR_W0QQitemZ4391063306QQcategoryZ38210QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This page, which details information about this sale (I don?t see
anything specifically about gliders), notes that the loveseat and
ottoman are also available. If you keep scrolling down that page,
you?ll see the entire set.

You can call American Themes about their Morris/Mission products at 
800-571-5232, to see if the loveseat and sofa have gliders.

Voorhees Craftsman sells antiques and custom-makes faithful
reproductions of classic furniture. See their Morris chair selection
at:
http://www.voorheescraftsman.com/category.html?categoryID=011

Some of these are marked ?recliner? and I?m not sure that?s the same as gliding.

Contact Voorhees Craftsman at 1-888-982-6377.

Comfort Source has a Morris chair and ottoman set:
http://www.comfortsource.com/show/brand/Club+Chairs/816001.html
Contact Info: 
http://www.comfortsource.com/_about+us.html

Historic Lighting has Hile Morris glider chairs:
http://www.historiclighting.com/RetailScience/showroom/furniture/livingroom/hilemorrischairs-00.html
Clicking the forward arrow on that page takes you to a three-seat loveseat:
http://www.historiclighting.com/RetailScience/showroom/furniture/livingroom/hileslatloveseat-00.html
(But I don?t think it has a glider.)
Contact Information:	
http://www.historiclighting.com/RetailScience/info/aboutus 

T.M. Uli & Son have mission-style furniture that closely resembles Morris:
http://www.tmuli.com/

Contact: Uli & Son are in the process of moving from Maine to Texas
and will post updated information at their site ASAP.  But in the
meantime, you can contact them at this e-mail address: tim@tmuli.com

Heart Of Oak Workshop builds Morris-mission-style glider chairs:
http://www.heartofoakworkshop.com/chairs.html

They build to order, so it?s likely they can custom-make an ottoman,
sofa, and loveseat for you, too.

Contact information for Heart Of Oak Workshop:
E-mail: heartoak@ix.netcom.com 

Mission Studio also makes quality Morris chairs and ottomans:
http://www.missionstudio.com/morrischair.html
And loveseats:
http://www.missionstudio.com/h_loveseat.html

The items displayed here don?t appear to be glider, but they do
custom-make furniture, so you may want to call them:

Mission Studio Contact Information:
Phone: 866-987-6549
E-mail: sales@missionstudio.com  

The Bean Bag Store
http://www.thebeanbagstore.com/
Has a Morris style Glider rocker:
http://www.thebeanbagstore.com/gliderMORRIS.htm

Contact Information for the Bean Bag is:
Phone 612-861-0102 or 800-289-8054
E-Mail: info@thebeanbagstore.com 

Also, be sure to keep checking eBay, which does have some Morris
chairs up for auction:
http://search.ebay.com/morris-chair_W0QQcatrefZC6QQcoactionZcompareQQcoentrypageZsearchQQcopagenumZ1QQfnuZ1QQfromZR10QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsacatZQ2d1QQssPageNameZWLRS

Keep checking back in at eBay using the search strings ?Dutailier? or 
?Towne Square glider? or  ?morris glider? in ?All Categories.?

Awhile Ago Antiques has restored vintage Morris and other restored
mission-style chairs. I don?t think these items are precisely what
you?re looking for, but they may be of interest, so I included them:

http://awhileagoantiques.tripod.com/id16.html
http://awhileagoantiques.tripod.com/id13.html

Contact information for  Awhile Ago Antiques: 
E-mail: awhileagoantiques@yahoo.com 

Another good place to check periodically is Bargain John?s:
http://www.bargainjohn.com/
Under ?Mission Furniture?:
http://www.bargainjohn.com/mission-furniture.htm
You?ll see some Morris items.

You may want to contact Bargain John?s to tell them what you want so
they can be on the lookout.
Contact info: Phone: 308-324-4576.
E-mail: antiques@bargainjohn.com   

Search Strings:

Skillcraft glider
Skillcraft AND Morris AND glider
Morris Gliders +Skillcraft +surplus
morris mission glider
glider +mission +chair +loveseat +ottoman
Morris AND glider AND mission AND chair AND loveseat AND ottoman
Skillcraft OR Morris AND glider
authentic AND Morris AND glider
Morris AND glider AND "3-seat"
"three-seat" AND Morris OR Skillcraft
Morris AND glider AND furniture
antique Morris furniture
Skillcraft furniture
loveseat [also love seat]  +Skillcraft
loveseat +Morris
skillcraft +glider +mission
Skillcraft furniture
Towne Square mission glider
Dutailier +glider +sofa
Dutailier AND glider AND sofa OR love seat AND mission
mission AND recliner AND sofa
"former owner of Skillcraft"

I hope my research is of help to you. If you have any problems with
any of the above links, please post a Request For Clarification and I
will be glad to assist you.

To find more results, try repeating my search strings in various
search engines ? you?re likely to stumble upon some items of interest
that I might have missed.

Best Regards,
nancylynn-ga
Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Answer by nancylynn-ga on 01 Aug 2005 12:54 PDT

Hi, I found a few more mission-style loveseat gliders/reclining sofas. 

I cannot find traditional-sized sofas with gliders -- not even by
searching furniture plans. Some of the loveseats I cited previously
are fairly large, so may serve that purpose for you, but as far as I
can tell, if you want a sofa with glider, you'll have to have one
custom-made. (I listed furniture makers who specialize in mission
and/or glider for you.)

But I have found some more mission style sofas that "recline." (Again,
I realize "recline" and "glide" can be different!)

I found a three-seater, "the Barlow Tyrie Mission Three Seater sofa
interior finish," at a UK directory, Furniture Depot, but I can't be
sure it's a glider:
http://www.furnituredepotdirect.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=928
(You have to click on "Request A Quote" in the top right corner to learn more.)

I tried to find that Barlow at an American store and came up with what
appears to be the same model at Teak Furniture Online, but in the U.S.
it's called a "sofa," not a "three-seater":
http://teak-furniture-online.com/barlow-tyrie-teak-garden-furniture_lounge_mission.htm#mission%20sofa

"The backrest on the Mission Sofa can be easily adjusted to one of
three positions by lifting and repositioning the solid teak bar at the
rear of the backrest. The bar has solid brass end caps and sits within
brass protected guides."

I also found this companion two-seater model at Teak Furniture Online:
http://teak-furniture-online.com/barlow-tyrie-teak-garden-furniture_lounge_mission.htm

You can see more Barlow Tyrie at their site:
http://www.teak.com/NEWD.html

Contact Information for Barlow Tyrie:
http://www.teak.com/contactus.html
(They have three offices/outlets in the U.S.) 

Additional Loveseats with Gliders:

At Amish Furniture Gallery:

Millwood Mission Loveseat Glider
http://www.theamishfurnituregallery.com/showproduct.aspx?productid=106   

To learn about this product, go to the Gallery's homepage:
http://www.theamishfurnituregallery.com/
Phone:  406 452 3062 
E-mail: afgallery1@qwest.net 

As you can see, Amish Gallery also custom-makes furniture.

Amish Oak In Texas:
http://www.amishoakintexas.com/home_rockers.htm

At the bottom of the page see mission-style chair and two loveseats.

Contact Information: 
Phone: 830-401-4847 or (830) 832 - 6532 
E-mail: amishoakintexas@cnonline.net 

Another furniture maker that specializes in Mission/Morris style is
Black River Mission in Cooperstown, NY:
http://www.blackrivermission.com/
Check out "Chairs & Settles" to see their Morris-style work:
http://www.blackrivermission.com.cnchost.com/chairs/chairtmbs.htm

I hope this additional information is of help.