A leading figure in America’s Arts and Crafts movements, Charles Rohlfs began his career as a pattern maker and stove designer before transitioning to the cabinetry and furniture designs that constitute his most enduring contributions. His designs fuse Art Nouveau influences with asymmetrical patterns derived from ceramics and medieval designs. The unusually slender forms he employed distinguished him from other Arts and Crafts artisans. His unique style was born of a desire to create something that he did not see at the time. “I wanted a certain kind of furniture and had seen nothing that particularly appealed to me,” he said during his life. Spending his professional career in Buffalo, New York, Rohlfs worked primarily in oak, which is noteworthy for being a more difficult wood to carve and mold.