– April 2024 –
The Philadelphia Shaker Community: An Outpost of Motherly Love
The Philadelphia Shaker Society is often overlooked within the overall arc of Shaker history. Perhaps this is because the Philadelphia settlement was a short-lived experiment that lasted only 50 years, operating as an offsite “out family” of the Watervliet community from 1858 to 1908...
– February 2024 –
Whole Lot of Shaker Going On: The 1930s in South Salem, New York
On Spring Street in South Salem — just a stone’s throw from John Keith Russell Antiques — sits an eighteenth-century farmhouse named “Shaker Hollow.” The classic, two-story Colonial with a gable roof, central chimney, and clapboard exterior was built in 1795 by James Conklin, farmer, landowner, and distiller...
– December 2023 –
Curiously Inscribed: A Shaker Oval Box with Remarkable Provenance
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. ...
– August 2023 –
The Watt & Jan White Shaker Collection
Watt C. White Jr. had an enduring passion for collecting. His journey began at just ten years old when he wandered into a shop on Madison Avenue in New York City and purchased four Britain Toy Soldiers. From that moment, he was hooked. Watt dedicated much of his life to becoming a well-informed, generous collector...
– November 2022 –
“a fearless battle axer against the lives of evil doers”* Elder Micajah Tucker's Canterbury Dining Chairs
There’s no better way to build community than to share meals together. “A family is a group of people who eat the same thing for dinner,” remarked writer Nora Ephron. This is certainly true when looking at the communal lives of the Shakers, for whom mealtimes were nourishment for body and spirit. ...
– October 2022 –
"Classic" New Lebanon Rocking Chairs: a close look at the evolution of an iconic Shaker form
Few realize that the rocking chair is a relatively new furniture form. These days, they’re everywhere—decorating nurseries, sitting rooms, porches, airports, hotel lobbies, and even highway rest stops. Their ubiquity suggests a timelessness but, in truth, the first rocking appeared only about 250 years ago...
– August 2022 –
The Robert & Hazel Belfit Shaker Collection
In the 1920s, Robert and Hazel Belfit began acquiring Shaker furniture, tools, domestic objects, and ephemera that, by the 1960s, would become one of the most significant collections of Shaker material obtained directly from the Shakers. ...
– March 2022 –
Designs for Working Women: Thoughts on the Shaker Sewing Desk
Today, the Shaker sewing desk is a classic and sought-after form. Usually comprised of a worktable over drawers with a gallery of smaller drawers above, this uniquely Shaker design represents a 50-year evolution that demonstrates the Shaker principles of creative reuse and adaptation. ...
– February 2022 –
One-Drawer Shaker Sewing Stand given to Edward Deming & Faith Andrews by the Hancock Shakers, Christmas 1930
“Pandora’s box was empty compared with our first glimpse beyond the kitchen door,” reflected Faith Andrews on the first visit that she and her husband, Edward Deming Andrews, paid to the Hancock Shaker community in 1923. Who would have guessed that a stop for a loaf of freshly baked bread would spark a life’s work? ...