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| Shaker Furniture: With their clean lines and simple shapes, these pieces work in a variety of interiors |
 This Old HouseJanuary / February, 2004 Leigh and I grew up going to flea markets. One of the shows we did when we were teenagers was held at the Shaker Village in Old Chatham, New York. We spent many hours wandering around the old buildings, exploring the rooms, studying the furniture, and imagining what it must have been like to live in such austere surroundings. Everything about the place had an appealing, practical order about it. It felt tranquil, almost spiritual. It left an indelible impression on us both. Even now, when I look at Shaker furniture, I see it in the context of those buildings and the quiet, orderly life of the Shakers. But Shaker furniture is far from old-fashioned. It's right at home in modern settings, too, which accounts for its continuing popularity today. Shaker pieces look good in a traditional home and fit in well with many other antiques. And, as Leigh puts it, their clean lines also look good in an austere modern setting, like a downtown loft. In fact, Shaker furniture had a strong influence on Danish Modern design as well as some other contemporary furniture styles. And because Shaker pieces are often painted - yellow, blue, red, and green were favorite colors - Shaker furniture can really complement a collection of folk art. SIMPLE, CLEAN LINES Shaker furniture is, above all, simple. That's what the makers intended. Because of their religious beliefs, the Shakers frowned on decoration, so they stripped down classic furniture forms to the barest essentials. The pieces are lean, light, strong, and graceful. In this economy of line is an elegant simplicity - an austere beauty based solely on form. And then there's the level of craftsmanship. The Shakers believed that every act of labor was an act of worship and that God was guiding their hands when they worked. The craftsman's conviction and purity of purpose can be seen in the meticulous details that make Shaker furniture so special. The Shakers made furniture from the 1780s on, producing the trestle tables, chairs, tripod stands, desks, clocks, chests, worktables, and bentwood storage boxes they needed for their largely self-sufficient communities. The classic Shaker pieces - the ones that are most prized by collectors today - were built from about 1820 to 1860. In later years (and as late as 1947), the Shakers made most of their furniture for sale to the "outside world." You could even order ladderback chairs and rockers from the Shakers' own catalog (sometimes marked with a gold "Shaker's" trademark)! These factory-made pieces often lack the superb craftsmanship of their earlier work and bring lower prices today. Surprisingly, some late-19th century Shaker furniture looks downright Victorian - fretwork doodads and all. WHAT TO LOOK FOR The very best Shaker pieces can bring a small fortune, but you can find original Shaker furniture, boxes, and baskets for less that $600 or so if you don't go for top-quality pieces. As with most antique furniture, value is based on condition. A piece with an original painted finish in good condition is worth far more than a similar piece that's been refinished. According to Shaker furniture dealer John Keith Russell, of John Keith Russell Antiques Inc. in South Salem, New York, "As with any other antique, one should insist on total originality, except for the seat material [on chairs], which wore out and was often replaced." Russell says that prices for ladderback chairs typically range from $500 to $2,000 for a Shaker-built factory chair and from $1,000 to $25,000 and up for a handmade chair built for the Shakers' own use. Trestle tables, freestanding case pieces, and tall clocks bring the highest prices. If you want Shaker style but your budget can't handle the cost of an antique, you might want to look at the wide array of Shaker reproductions that are available. These range from handmade re-creations of original pieces that can cost as much as a real antique to furniture-store items that evoke the Shaker look and style without being actual reproductions. If you're handy, and have the time, you can even buy some well-designed Shaker kits that give you good-looking furniture at a bargain price. |
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