Traditional Furniture - Handmade Shaker Style Furniture

Shaker style furniture is bespoke handmade furniture, which was made with a distinctive and unique style by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, a communal religious sect, known by most people as the Shakers.

They produced their handmade furniture with the aim of reflecting the simplicity and perfection revered in their religious tenets.

With Shaker Furniture, Function Precedes Style

High quality and simple functionalism are the 2 main key points that Shaker furniture craft works were based on. Their furniture was characteristically plain, almost nondescript, devoid of any fanciful trimmings or details common in their days. There were no carved ornamentations, no veneer wood strips used, and no molding applied on their furniture pieces.

The beliefs of the Shaker community are that there must be a purposeful use for whatever wooden furniture or other objects they create. Their belief in the utility of every household object of furniture bears out the contemporary precept that "function precedes style”. To the Shaker community, the true beauty of any furniture rests on the suitability of the object to its purpose.

Shakers furniture was built strong and sturdy, and was meant to last almost indefinitely, something they could pass on to their children, and their children’s children. These handmade furniture items were produced from locally available woods such as oak, maple, cherry and pine.

Shaker furniture is widely admired for their simplicity, quality, innovative joinery, and functionality. Their interior spaces were marked by the predominance of:

• Built-in cupboards
• Small and large chests
• Benches, stools and chairs
• High-boys
• Washstands
• Slant top desks
• Blanket chests
• Sewing cupboards
• Shaker kitchen cabinets
• Beds with low headboards and foot-boards

Office desks and swivel chairs were also made, with wooden casters fixed on the swivel chairs for easy rolling. Other interesting items such as handmade tools were produced for carpentering, agriculture and household chores or duties.

All furniture was handmade, and joined very carefully by means of the dowel, dovetail or mortise joints; and eating tables (dining tables) and built-in pieces, which was a popular feature, was made extra large because their use was shared by many people, due to their communal style of living.

The underlying principles of Shaker furniture design industry have given inspiration to some of the finest designers of today's modern furniture.

For example, designs of their kitchen cabinets, desks, chairs and even textiles, did survive. The contemporary kitchen of today has been greatly influenced by Shaker kitchens with their clean lines, no frills kitchen cabinets that put quality, efficiency and functionality first and foremost ahead of aesthetics.

Shaker kitchen cabinets for instance are sturdy, well built and solid, with easy to grip knobs or handles, and little or no trim whatsoever.

A great number of Shaker furniture has survived the centuries, and are still preserved till this day. Popular amongst these are the Shaker tables, benches, straight back chairs, rocking chairs, chests, and cabinets. And you’ll find great collections of Shaker furniture in many art and historical museums in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as with numerous private collectors of traditional furniture.

And to know how valuable some handmade furniture of the past are, you will find a Shaker style furniture like a straight back chair that was made in one of their wood working shops, selling for around $20,000 at an auction today.

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