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

 The modern day Amish craftsmen have kept the tradition of Mission furniture, crafted in hard solid American woods, alive into the 21st Century. Mission design was originally inspired by Southwestern North America’s buildings, actually real Missions built for and by missionaries. The Southwest United States had architecture that was influenced by the natural environment that the Native Americans and Mexicans lived in. In the late 1800’s a furniture designer spotted the substantial styles that used native materials and created a new market for Mission furniture, accessories and even homes.

At the advent of Mission was another movement crossing the pond from England, the Arts and Crafts philosophy. The Arts and Crafts movement was a blatant revolt against the industrial age where everything was mass produced by machines. They, as artists and art supporters, believed that there was an overwhelming need to go back to handmade items that were high quality and showed integrity, such as in the Middle Ages. The Amish community that crafts the Mission furniture today has always held the same beliefs.

With this form follows function, back to the basics ideals, Arts and Crafts followers and artisans appropriated the heavy and homemade air of Mission with its use of square design, hardwood oaks, mortise-and-tenon jointing and use of dark stain. The upholstery was not flowery, like the opulent Victorian styles, but usually made of rugged leathers. Hardware was heavy hammered copper and oversized exposed nail heads. Always the furniture was usable as well as beautiful and made from native hardwoods.

The Amish still recreate the sturdy and straight line hardwood furniture in dining room tables, living room furniture and bedroom creations. Still made of the same native oaks, quarter sawn oaks, maples and cherry these pieces are the same museum quality that the artisans in Arts and Crafts heyday practiced. Though Mission is not a subtle design it is full of warmth and charm. Today there are many series, all continuing in the standards of the founders of Mission. Classic, Bridger, Brooklyn, McCoy, Ridgecrest, Royal, Shaker, Springhill, West Lake, West Village, Landmark and Flush are all custom made in the today in Amish country by contemporary believers of the Arts and Craft Society of yesteryear.