Country Living USA – September 2019

RIPE FOR THE PICKING

COUNTRYLIVING.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019 sƂ

SLAT-BACK

CHAIRS

WHAT IT IS:Slat-back

(or ladder-back) chairs

are the only type of

furniture the Shakers

made both for use within

their communities

and as production pieces

for outside sales.

Chairs used within the

communities were often

MARKED with the ROOM

NUMBER, indicating

where the chair was

used, while production

chairs were identifi ed by

a DECAL TRADEMARK

LABEL that also

indicated the chair’s size.

WHAT IT’S WORTH:

$200 to $20,000

Production chairs can be

found for less than

$1,000, although a “zero

size” child’s chair may

bring more. The much

rarer chairs used within

communities (and

with original paint) rise

in value.

FINIALS

Carved fi nials, or “pommels,”

topped a chair’s lathe-turned

posts. Shapes varied by village,

such as South Union’s “egg

in a cup” (left) and Enfi eld, New

Hampshire’s candle-flame.

CLOTH TAPE SEAT

In the 1820s, the Shakers

began using a webbing of

woven cloth tape as a means

to add comfort to the seat.

SLAT-BACK

Each chair had up to five

arched slats that—on the

“best” chairs—got

wider as they ascended.

did you know...

To keep things tidy, the

Shakers lined all their walls

with wood rails dotted

with pegs—or “clothespins.”

Rare circa-1830s chair photographed on location at

South Union Shaker Village. Special thanks to

Jerry Grant and Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon for

sharing their collection on the following pages.

Vining Ivy

PPG Paints

Appraisals

What Is It? What Is It Worth?

The Shaker Church’s guiding principles of honesty, unity,

and simplicity informed not only how they lived, but also the

artful, practical (and valuable!) pieces they designed.

produced by JENNIFER KOPF photograph by BRIAN WOODCOCK