Like the Amish community members the Shakers were known for their integrity and honesty; not just in their personal lives but in their furniture designs. Even when the Shakers became aware of their profitable designs they did not let money take precedence over their morals and beliefs. The Shakers carried on business as if they were creating pieces to be used in Heavenly homes instead of mere earthly ones. These high standards insured that their craftsmanship never faltered in order to achieve a higher bottom line. Interestingly, their honesty did not just run true in the way they did business or the way they built furnishings but in the way they decorated and finished their famous furniture pieces.

Veneers were not favored by the Shakers and the Amish still hold to this belief. There was a common belief that the covering up of less expensive woods by more expensive false veneers was a form of dishonesty. Whether in dealing with God, their community or their patrons, the Shakers wanted nothing to do with the appearance of dishonesty, even if it was well known, practiced and accepted in the secular world. Even the art of wood graining, where the artist used fine detailed brushes and scrapers to emulate the look of wood grain using stains, was discouraged. Marbling and wood graining had become a fashionable decoration in Victorian furnishings but the Shakers frowned upon even the best of faux graining.

It is almost as hard to find painted Shaker pieces as veneered. Paint and even stains and varnishes were held in suspicion as to being deceptive. If an item needed paint to be attractive and accepted then what was the workman covering up? If there was a need to color a piece then the Shakers chose transparent tints. So serious was the principles that the Shaker craftsmen and women upheld there were actual laws drawn up and adapted throughout each community. Whether it was the accepted stains within their own Dwellinghouses or the minimal stain allowed on something as simple as their famous Shaker boxes, the law was obeyed.

The Amish craftsmen of Northern Indiana present their rendition of Shaker designs in solid hard woods, true to their natural beauty. Whether in pine, quarter sawn oak, red oak, maple, hickory, cherry or walnut the honest lines, high quality details and simple beauty remain intact, honoring the beliefs so important to the Shakers. Dovetailed drawers, no veneers, solid wood backs and drawer bottoms, exposed mortise and tenon joints are added in to bedroom suites, armoires, living room pieces and dining room sets. Like their fellow believers the Shakers, the Amish too are held accountable in their communities to keep up the high standards set out for building heirloom pieces to last a lifetime

Tags: Amish Community, Amish Furniture Styles, Dwellinghouses, faux graining, faux paint, furniture design, painted furniture, Shaker, shaker pieces, solid wood, veneer, wood graining

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 11:54 pm and is filed under Cherry Furniture, Hickory Furniture, History of Furniture Making, Maple Furniture, Oak Furniture, Shaker. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.