Chest over three drawers
Dateca. 1810 - 30
Label TextThis chest represents early Shaker furniture. The early date is indicated by the thickness of the paint, its hue of yellow, and the embossed tin shield-shaped lock; decoration that would not have been used by 1840. Also by 1840, the paint would have been thinner.
The drawer configuration--a shallow drawer and then two of equal depth--is not "of the world," a Shaker term describing the non-Shaker community. In the non-Shaker world, drawers would have decreased in size by steady increments. The flat space of the chest, the thin drawer, and then two of equal size establishes a non-conventional rhythm in furniture design of this time. In a break from that convention, Shaker drawers were designed to suit what went in them.
Object number99.49
Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum in collaboration with the Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, New York, "Creating Perfection: Shaker Objects and Their Affinities", October 5, 2000 - April 29, 2001, (10/5/2000-4/29/2001)Credit LineAmerican Furniture Fund, Decorative Arts Acquisition Fund, and the Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund in honor of John T. Kirk
Dimensions39 3/8 x 38 5/8 x 18 1/8 in. (100.0 x 98.1 x 46.0 cm)
MediumPine, painted or stained in the early hue of Shaker yellow, varnished
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