Shaker Production Footstool
South Family, Mount Lebanon, NY | c. 1890
Maple, pine, ferrous screws, wool, and silk
Original surface and upholstery
7 ½” h. x 12″ w. x 12″ d.
Advertised as “Foot Benches,” the Shakers began producing footstools as companion pieces to their iconic rocking chairs. Available in a single platform or two-step style, cushioned or bare, the footstools were put into production by the South Family Mount Lebanon chair factory in the 1870s under the direction of Elder Robert M. Wagan (1833-1883), who is recognized for revitalizing the Shaker chair industry with the introduction of mass production techniques.
This Shaker Production Footstool consists of a canted pine platform supported by turned maple legs and two horizontal stretcher bars. The underside of the platform retains a gold leaf stamped South Family chair factory decalcomania, certifying the authenticity of the piece as Shaker-made. The stain and varnish surface and red wool upholstery with silk ties are original. By the mid-1880s, the Shakers offered 21 different colors of woven wool upholstery, or “plush.” This shade may be what the Shaker chair catalogues refer to as “scarlet.”
Illustration: Printer’s cut from a Shaker chair catalogue, c. 1870-1880.
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