Shaker Elder’s Rocking Chair
Enfield, NH | c. 1840
Birch, pine, and cane
Old, refinished surface
37 ¼” h. x 36 ½” w. x 17 ⅛” d.
The Shaker community of Enfield, New Hampshire, cultivated a distinctive, elegant rocking chair design. According to Charles R. Muller and Timothy D. Rieman, authors of The Shaker Chair, “The symmetrical pommel turnings, slender posts, and backward cant make the Enfield chair the most delicate and beautiful of Shaker seating furniture. It is the ultimate expression of the conservation of materials to create a functional form.” (1984)
This statuesque, four-slat Elder’s Chair, which was made for community use, bears all the classic Enfield markers: a flame-shaped finial (or pommel) with medial scribe lines; strong, consistently arched, graduated slats tenoned into the rear posts; graceful, sweeping arms terminating in drop scrolled handholds; vase turnings in the front posts; a woven cane seat; and shaped rocker blades slotted into the front and rear posts and joined with screws.
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