Country Living USA – September 2019

RIPE FOR THE PICKING

sƅ COUNTRYLIVING.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019

POPLARWARE

WHAT IT IS:Beginning in the 1830s,

the Shakers made cloth and other

items of palm leaves imported

from the Caribbean. When the Civil

War halted shipments, they

turned to the POPLAR TREE,

whose THINLY PLANED STRIPS OF

WOOD were woven into a

COTTON WARP. This material was

then used to cover cardboard-

based sewing boxes, bureau trays,

pincushions, and other

“fancy” goods that were primarily

sold outside of the community.

WHAT IT’S WORTH:

$100 to $600

“Due to its

often compromised

condition,

poplarware is the

bargain of all

Shaker items, with

open trays being

less desirable

than covered boxes,”

says Karen.

“Double Pear”

Poplarware Tray

Canterbury

Shaker Village

Shaker Museum |

Mount Lebanon

Collection

SIGNATURE

SHAKER COLORS

The Shakers believed

everything should look

finished , and a coat of paint

gave millwork that desired

completeness. Colors weren’t

chosen for aesthetics—

minus a “heavenly blue” in

rooms of worship—but by

availability and cost. Linseed

or fish oil was mixed with

common pigments, such as

yellow ochre, rust, and

charcoal, to create their boldly

hued paints, with less costly

materials used on buildings

farthest from the road.

WORTH THE TRIP

Find peg after peg of inspiration at the

remnants of nine Shaker villages.

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill, KY

shakervillageky.org

South Union Shaker Village

Auburn, KY

southunionshakervillage.com

Hancock Shaker Village

Pittsfield, MA

hancockshakervillage.org

Fruitlands Museum

Harvard, MA

fruitlands.thetrustees.org

Alfred Shaker Museum

Alfred, ME

alfredshakermuseum.com

Sabbathday Lake

Shaker Village

New Gloucester, ME

maineshakers.com

Canterbury Shaker Village

Canterbury, NH

shakers.org

Enfield Shaker Museum

Enfield, NH

shakermuseum.org

Shaker Museum | Mount

Lebanon

New Lebanon, NY

shakerml.org

Today, only three

remaining Shakers live

at Maine’s Sabbathday

Lake, but their legacy

continues to influence

modern architecture,

interior design, and

furniture.

Along with equality,

they also believed in

separation of the sexes.

Buildings were designed

with double entrances

and staircases, and men

and women worshipped

and dined in separate

areas of the same room.

This extended to their

vows of celibacy.

To protect themselves,

Shakers trademarked

many of the wares

they produced and sold

to the outside world.

did you know...

Shakers were the first to

craft the more efficient “flat”

broom. Broom, from

$22.50; shakerworkshops.com

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