Curiously Inscribed:
A Shaker Oval Box with Remarkable Provenance
– December 2023 –
There is a certain unpredictability that accompanies dealing in Shaker. We never know the materials that may come our way through a referral, email inquiry, or auction listing. Over the past forty-some years, John has learned to stay open and responsive—always expecting the unexpected. The capricious nature of the business is a source of both delight and frustration. When we’re looking for tables, you can guarantee we’ll find only chairs. Year-to-year flows of Shaker materials have curious peaks and ebbs, and it’s best not to commit yourself to predictions or assertions as, chances are, someone has made other plans.
In the curious spirit of the antiques world, 2023 has seen a great quantity of excellent Shaker boxes come into our South Salem shop. In late July, our inventory surpassed over 75 Shaker oval boxes. This included the Watt & Jan White Collection, an unrivaled grouping of more than 40 painted Oval Storage Boxes presented at Antiques in Manchester. This followed a three-day box-stravaganza at Enfield Shaker Museum’s annual Shaker Collectors’ Weekend, where participants dove into the minutiae of oval, dovetailed, and seed boxes with a fantastic roster of presenters including Jerry Grant, Christian Becksvoort, Erika Sanchez Goodwillie, Alexandra A. Kirtley, Tom Queen, and others.
Now in December, we’ve recently acquired a truly unique example of a Shaker oval box that we’re eager to share here: what we believe to be perhaps the only Oval Storage Box positively attributed to the Harvard, Massachusetts, Shaker community.
This box is of classic construction measuring 5 ½ inches across with a pine top and bottom, maple bentwood sides, and copper rivets and brads. Compared with other boxes made by other Shaker communities, the tack pattern is a bit excessive with seven tacks fixing each of the lappers on the base in a four-two-one pattern. File marks can be seen on the surface of the copper—a characteristic shared by oval boxes of the New Hampshire Bishopric, and visible scribe lines run vertically connecting the lines of tacks.
Originally, the box was finished in a pale red wash that has aged to appear like a natural stain and varnish surface. The fingers of the box, which appear to have been traced and cut using a mold, are clipped at the very end in 45-degree angles at the top and bottom to create a rounded effect. The marks from the maker’s blade are still visible in six clumsy bevels—not a common decorative embellishment, but not an unprecedented decision either.
Perhaps most compelling is an inscription in graphite on the interior of the lid that reads:
Charls [sic] H. Perry
From his Friend
Thomas Hammond
The Harvard Shaker community is not known to be an oval box-producing branch of the Society. Unlike New Lebanon, Canterbury, and Alfred, they did not cultivate an oval box industry, but that does not mean they did not make boxes for community use. Elder Thomas Hammond, Jr. (1791-1880), listed as a “carpenter” in federal census data, is best known for his joinery and overseeing the production of chairs for the Harvard community. In Shaker Furniture Makers (1989), the authors note a selection of journal entries documenting Brother Thomas’ chairmaking, highlighting a January 1839 notation that states, “Elder Brother Thomas Hammond… has made all the chairs for many years.” In 1841-42, he served as foreman, producing a total of 339 chairs: “There was put at the office (for sale) 83 common, 3 rocking chairs with arms, and six small ones—92 in all.”
Although Elder Thomas’ activities as a church leader and farmer are well documented in manuscripts in the collection of Fruitlands/The Trustees, (he compiled numerous daybooks), very little documents his activities in cabinetry. The only entry that opens up the possibility of Elder Thomas’ involvement in oval box production is through a record of his work in an adjacent craft: bentwood sieves. On December 15, 1849, Elder Thomas hauled maple logs to the mill for sieve rims and he worked at the mill planning sieve rims with his new machine. This planning machine could also have been used to produce the maple sides and rims of oval pantry boxes.
Journals in the collection of Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) written by Elder Joseph Hammond (1789-1849), Elder Thomas’s biological brother, also contain many references to the sieve industry at Harvard. Intermittently throughout 1826 and 1827, he documents his progress making and finishing sieves, alluding to the production of oval boxes as well. Notably, Elder Joseph documents:
1826 jul 11: Wrought at shaving down the laps of 6 Doz wide rims for Large sieves… finished oval molds.
1827 apr 30: Wrought made 2 small oval sieve rims & made 2 small Oval Box Sieves & got out & cut in the headings & finished & carried to the office about 10 Oclock P.M. 3 Large Oval Apothecaries Sieves for Hosea W[inchester]. These are the last of 10 Sieves I have now made.
1827 dec 12: Wrought at plaining, bending, & nailing 12 rims for Boxes to keep copper & Iron tacks in.
1827 dec 15: Wrought finished Boxes & numbered them.
Shaker Carpenters’ Shop (Harvard, MA), 1941
Ministry journals written by Elder Grove Blanchard (1798-1880), also in the collection of WRHS, reinforce the history of oval box production at Harvard. On August 9, 1837, he records:
Wednesday, Showers, AM; PM quite rainy, AM Brethren hoe beans, turnips, and potatoes, at Yellow house place, and all get wet to their skins. – Grove and John with the above company, PM – Grove begin to work some on Oval Boxes…
And, again, on March 21 the following year:
Wednesday, Fair, Grove at Boxes, bent 4 Dozen and nailed some.
Most likely, this inscribed box was made by one of the Hammond Elders—its amateurish charm does not connect it to the more skillful hands of Elder Grove, who produced dozens of boxes at a time. It seems likely that a craftsman with experience producing furniture or sieves—a form not as refined as oval boxes—was the maker of this piece. The question is: was this box made in the second quarter of the nineteenth century when Elder Joseph was producing sieves (before he died in 1849)? Or, is the of a later date of manufacture and, therefore, made by Elder Thomas?
The inscription may provide a clue. Charles H. Perry was born in the early 1830s in the Buffalo area—possibly Canada. Records on Perry are scant, but we know that he was brought to the community by Sister Mercy Dring (1805-1881), who was the biological sister of Sister Elizabeth Persons (1802-1874). Brother Charles was a member of the East Family from 1870 before entering the Church in 1877. Just three years later, he left the community, shortly time before Elder Thomas died in December of 1880.
Was this oval box a gift welcoming Brother Charles to the Church Family in 1877, or was it a gesture of best wishes upon his departure in 1880? Either way, it seems likely that Elder Thomas himself made, finished, and inscribed this box for Brother Charles. Perhaps further research will reveal more about the relationship between the two Shakers and the experience of Brother Charles as a Harvard Believer. Until then, this Box represents the only material evidence of oval box making at Harvard and its unique construction may provide clues that help identify additional boxes attributed to this community.