Shaker design: out of this world

Abstract

"The Shakers were guided by the principles of utility, honesty, and order in both their work and worship, and this belief system influenced the physical expression of the goods they produced for use at home and for sale outside their communities. This book presents an array of examples of Shaker furniture, household objects, textiles, religious drawings, and items made to sell to the "world's people" (non-Shakers). The book's contributors discuss Shaker design in relation to the furniture they constructed, the products they sold, their gift drawings and spirituality, and their rejection of American Fancy design."--Jacket.

Contents

The Shaker world. Shaker villages and the landscape of "gospel order" / Robert P. Emlen -- Faith, form, and finish: Shaker furniture in context / Jean M. Burks -- Designed for sale: Shaker commerce with the world / M. Stephen Miller. The spiritual world. The problem of female leadership in early Shakerism / Jean M. Humez -- "Given by inspiration": visionary expressions in Shaker life and art (1837 to 1859) / Gerard C. Wertkin. The fancy world. Plain Shakers, fancy world / Sumpter Priddy. The contemporary world. In the spirit? Twentieth-century and contemporary Shaker-inspired design / Kory Rogers.