Inspiration for woodworkers from the Shaker community. Shaker Style Furniture

We love continuing to deepen our knowledge and understanding of woodworking, as well as learning more about the history of it. One of our employees, Jason Wech , has a wealth of knowledge about the history of furniture design. He was actually a professor of furniture design at Savannah College of Art & Design.

Our history lesson for today was in the Shaker furniture design movement, which can be seen as one of the most influential in America and continues to inspire so many designers today. Shaker furniture is noted by solid, well-crafted construction, sound materials, and an austere appearance with no unnecessary embellishments. They believed in creating things that were plain and simple, adding nothing that didn’t contribute to a piece’s goodness or durability.

Shaker furniture is not without decorative elements, but the decoration is actually part of the structure of a piece. Key features include long 'finger joints'; large, plain, button-like or 'mushroom' knobs; and wide slats across chair backs. Chair tops are adorned with acorn-, pinecone- or flame-shaped finials depending on which Shaker community created them.

The first 3 photos are from the mid 1800's and show some examples of their original work. They often hung chairs on the walls to make room for dancing. The last picture is of a Shaker style shelf support that has been mortised in by hand with a chisel, which is a perfect illustration of their very efficient construction. We are so inspired by the way the Shakers focused on simplicity with furniture and they executed it with excellence, allowing the wood to speak for itself.