Shaker Design

シェーカー・デザイン / 1780s–1900s / Style / Furniture and Interiors

Plainness practiced as an article of faith by the Shaker communities of the United States. With ornament refused, their furniture and rooms were arrived at through use and honest workmanship alone, anticipating functionalism and Scandinavian design.

Shaker Design — Round Stone Barn at Hancock Shaker Village (CC0) — Round Stone Barn at Hancock Shaker Village (CC0) · CC0

Shaker Design — Interior of a Shaker elders' room (HABS 1962) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Interior of a Shaker elders' room (HABS 1962) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Shaker Design — Shaker furniture — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Shaker furniture — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Ornament fully renounced
Peg-rail walls
Light, precise furniture
Perfection as labor

Best used for

Clearing a small home by planning walls and storage as one
Making undecorated wooden furniture meant as a model of long use

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Dictionary entry

Type: Pare members thin and let chamfers and proportion carry the expression
Composition: Run a peg rail high around the walls and keep floors clear
Material: Solid timber, thin finish, minimal hardware, the same precision behind
Caution: Copying the plain shapes while lowering the standard of joinery and finish yields cheap furniture without the belief behind it, reading as poor rather than modest.
Further study: the doctrine that beauty rests in utility / its influence on Danish furniture / George Nelson's reappraisal

Related entries

Minimalism (ミニマリズム)Shared effects: Calm / Trust.Compare Shaker Design and Minimalism
Arts and Crafts (アーツ・アンド・クラフツ)Shared effects: Intimacy.Compare Shaker Design and Arts and Crafts

Often confused with

Scandinavian Modern (スカンジナビアン・モダン)compare

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