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A Shaker revolving chair, circa 1840-70, on view in The American Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
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A Shaker side chair made in New York state, circa 1840-60, on view in The American Wing of The Met (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
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A Shaker bench, probably made in Massachusetts, circa1825-50, on view in The American Wing of The Met (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
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Much like the Shaker chairs that inspired it, Hans Wegner’s circa 1962 CH36 dining chair for Carl Hansen & Son has an unpretentious, utilitarian design. Simple turned legs that taper at the bottom, and also at the top of the back legs, handwoven seats and curved backrest create an elegant appearance. The CH36 chair is still in production. (Photo courtesy Hans Wegner)
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Introduced in 2017 at Maison & Objet in Paris, the Rodan coffee table by Pinch Design embodies the brilliant simplicity of a Shaker box. Its only ornamentation, the swallowtail detailing on the table’s edge that mimics the classic joinery technique the Shaker craftsmen developed and used on their boxes, allows the wood to expand and contract. (Photo courtesy Pinch Design)
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The design for this iconic bench by Pennsylvania master furniture maker George Nakashima was inspired by early Shaker principles. Nakashima, who described his furniture as “Japanese Shaker,” drew inspiration for the simple symmetry, slender spindle back and narrow rectangular-shaped seat from Shaker styles. One of his early, pre-1960 designs, the Bench With Back is still made by George Nakashima Woodworkers. (Photo courtesy George Nakashima Woodworkers)
They arrived in America in the 1770s, seeking the freedom to live a religious life in a communal utopia. The Shakers — The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming — were a Quaker sect with unique principles. They were social progressives who believed in sexual and racial equality, pacifism and celibacy, and eschewed materialism, sex and marriage. Shaker communities grew their own food, built their own buildings and manufactured their own tools and household furnishings. (Fun fact: Tabitha Babbitt, a Shaker woman and toolmaker, is said to have invented the circular saw.)
The Shakers are known for minimalist designs and quality construction. Their furniture is devoid of ornamentation. The forms are stark and unpretentious. Shaker designs were driven by the same principles embraced over 100 years later by 20th-century furniture designers such as Mies Van der Rohe, Corbusier, Saarinen and Gropius of form following function, truth to materials, unrivaled craftsmanship and quality.
The first Shaker furniture makers were converts who had trained with secular cabinetmakers in England before immigrating to America. Familiar with the elements of neoclassical furniture design, they streamlined the rectilinear lines and slender forms even further and eliminated the use of veneers, inlays and carving. Simple turned knobs took the place of imported brass pulls.
To meet the demands of their communities and non-Shaker clientele, Shaker furniture makers developed innovative methods for furniture production that allowed them to maintain the elegant lines and quality construction of their products — chairs, tables, chests, baskets and boxes — and produce them in a shorter timeframe.
The Shakers’ streamlined versions of the centuries-old ladderback chair style were embellished with simple decorative touches like acorn or flame finials on the chair backs, shaped back slats and turned legs. At the zenith of the Shaker movement in the 1860s — the sect had more than 6,000 members living in 18 communities from Maine to Kentucky — chair making created an income stream for the Shaker communities.
By the end of the 19th century, the sleek aesthetic and handcrafted quality of Shaker furniture, much like that of the American Arts and Crafts movement championed by Gustav Stickley, was considered a compelling alternative to the ornate excesses of Victorian-era design. Since then, Shaker design has inspired countless furniture designers around the globe.
