ENDURING DESIGN: THE SHAKER INFLUENCE ON DESIGN
The material culture of the Shakers continues to resonate in present day. This lasting
influence is a testament to the Shaker aesthetic, in which beauty is the result of
unadorned design and functionality guides form. The use of vivid colors lends richness to
the spare lines and creates visual balance. Though the Shakers did not invent or originate
most of the objects they created, they reinterpreted everyday forms and materials
according to their religious guidelines. Everything that one made or crafted was to be
made as perfectly as one’s abilities could make it.
The “Classic” Period of Shaker furniture: 1820-1840 (Photograph: Candlestand)
The classic period of Shaker furniture design is identified largely by pieces from the Mount Lebanon community. The Shakers were established long enough to respond to outside influences while also creating a new style that was all their own. Furniture from this period tends to have harmonious proportions, finishes, and symmetry. The Shakers produced this furniture for a growing community at its numerical peak. However, it was not quickly made to be sold to the World. Credit: New York State Museum
Shaker Design (Photograph: Swivel Chair) Credit: New York State Museum
Believers’ work was simple and without ornament. The embellishments of the World were of no use to the Shakers because they took extra time and materials to produce, and reflected a vanity in the user as well as in the maker. Craftsmen and women might be accused of flaunting a special skill that would serve to set them apart from the rest of their brethren and sisters. For this reason, Shakers dressed alike, wore their hair alike, and had similar chairs or looms or lathes in order to create and preserve equality among the entire community.
Rocking Chair
Credit: Hancock Shaker Village
Storage Chest
Credit: New York State Museum
Wheelbarrow
Credit: Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon
Lap Desk
Credit: New York State Museum
Shaker Smalls (Photograph: Basket) Credit: New York State Museum
Outside of furniture, the Shakers made a wide range of objects that were used in the course of everyday life. Household and utilitarian items bore characteristics that came to be defined by collectors and scholars as uniquely Shaker, made with outstanding craftsmanship and composed of only essential elements. This starkness lends itself to a simplicity of line that appeals to modern designers and informs them today. Clocks, crutches, baskets, measures and ladles take on forms that are above all useful, yet innovative and, ultimately, beautiful.
Shoe Last initialed "HS"
Credit: New York State Museum
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