Authentic antique Shaker furniture is hard to come by, but not exceedingly rare. “Shaker style” describes furnishings and interiors that are both warm and simple, centered on unpretentious wooden chairs, tables and cabinets without ornament or embellishment.
The term derives from the popular name for an all-but-vanished American religious sect, whose members crafted modest household furniture and objects as part of their belief in purposeful living and simplicity in all things.
Members of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing — called Shakers, derisively, because they writhed and danced in religious ecstasy during worship — arrived in the United States from England in 1774. Within 50 years, the sect had established 19 self-sufficient communities from Maine to Kentucky, where they lived pure, humble and industrious lives.
The furniture and objects the Shakers made reflected their strict rules of behavior. Pieces such as ladder- and slat-back chairs and trestle tables were painstakingly crafted from native woods like maple and cherry, using traditional methods such as mortise-and-tenon and dovetail joinery and lathe turning. They employed strong, straight lines and symmetrical proportions, and decoration of any kind — carving, veneers, inlays — was prohibited, as it would encourage the sins of pride and vanity.
The Shakers movement included some 6,000 members at its peak in the 1860s, but the group practiced celibacy and could attempt to sustain their flock only by recruiting new adherents. Modernity proved too alluring. Today only one tiny Shaker community, in Maine, still exists, though the sect’s heritage is preserved at several historical sites.
To support their communities, the Shakers sold furniture to outsiders, who appreciated its superb quality. While the “Shaker style” label is today given to many plain, simple wooden pieces, it should also denote superior construction and solid materials. As elements in interior design, Shaker furnishings work best in a quiet decor. Modest pieces such as these can become lost among more ornate works. The style is most suitable to a country home — although a Shaker chair or cabinet can make a striking counterpoint in a modernist, urban setting.
Shaker furniture and objects have a deep appeal for their warmth, honesty and graceful simplicity, which make them welcome almost anywhere.
Find antique Shaker furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Found Object Sculpture - Collected Steel Assemblage No. 07 by Jim Rose
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Assemblage No. 08 - Found Object Minimalist Welded Steel Wall Sculpture
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Assemblage No. 10, Found Object Minimalist Welded Steel Wall Sculpture
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Abstract Sculpture by Jim Rose: Modern Design with Found Steel Objects
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Abstract Sculpture by Jim Rose, Found Steel Objects, Custom Base, New
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Minimalist Welded Steel Wall Sculpture by Jim Rose, 2011
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Objects No. 01 - Found & collected steel objects - Original Jim Rose sculpture
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Found Object Sculpture - Collected Steel Assemblage by Jim Rose
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Found Object Sculpture - Collected Steel Assemblage No. 05 by Jim Rose
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Found Object Sculpture - Collected Steel Assemblage No. 3 by Jim Rose
By Jim Rose
Located in Chicago, IL
Using entirely found and collected steel objects, this sculpture shows the beauty of repurposed steel. Meticulously crafted, artist Jim Rose was a master welder as well as artistic c...
Steel
Monumental Abstract Modern Round Steel Sculpture
Located in Miami, FL
A very large sculpture. Suitable for indoors as well as outdoors. A very clean abstract design, round in shape, it is wider on one side becomes t...
Enamel, Steel
$1,200
H 21 in W 12 in D 7 in
Organic Abstract Ceramic Sculpture by Lorraine Goldberg 1980's Steel Base
Located in Troy, MI
Unique ceramic sculpture by Michigan artist Lorraine Goldberg Circa 1980's Organic elements glazed in earthen tones, clustered and stacked in an asymmetrical totemic form Mounted to...
Steel
$2,000
H 9.25 in W 5.225 in D 4 in
Joseph Wesner Industrial Modern Welded Steel Abstract Tabletop Sculpture
Located in Troy, MI
Abstract modernist sculpture by Detroit artist Joseph Wesner circa 1990s Welded steel composition with contrasting patinas embody Wesner's signature style of refined industrial 5....
Steel
Leo Sewell "Found Objects" Cat 1998
By Leo Sewell
Located in New York, NY
Leo Sewell (b. 1945) is an American "found object" artist. His creations of recycled material are in numerous museums and in private collections worldwide. Sewell was born in Annapo...
Composition
Jim Karg Art Glass Sculpture, Modern Abstract, Purple, USA, 1965
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Jim Karg Art glass sculpture. Somewhat triangular shape with purple internal color. Signed bottom side.
Art Glass
"Pig" Found Object Sculpture by Leo Sewell
By Leo Sewell
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Leo Sewell (b. 1945) is an American "found object" artist. His assemblages of recycled material are in over 40 museums and in private collections worldwide. Sewell was born in Ann...
Metal
Brutalist Hanging Wall Sculpture by Bill Heise, Found Objects
By Bill Heise
Located in Buffalo, NY
Brutalist hanging wall sculpture by Bill Heise. Found objects, hand executed from found objects, welded The pieces are crafted from turn-of-the-century farm equipment collected from the fields of Vermont, maritime parts salvaged from around the Bay Area, and railroad components, antique tools, and other vintage metal found throughout America. The delicate lines and whimsical nature of Heise sculptures often defy the rugged origins of each component part. Railroad spikes, plough discs, pitchforks, shovel blades, and a myriad of other parts are transformed into birds in flight, cows out to pasture, tropical fish, and a variety of other wildlife forms. And there's always an interesting story behind each piece, be it the eighty something farmer who helped me retrieve equipment from the "back forty," frozen hands from digging a hay rake...
Metal, Steel
Chris Duncan Welded Steel Sculpture
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Chris Duncan Welded Steel Sculpture "Smoke" Artist signed and dated Original Allan Stone Gallery Label
Steel
$380Sale Price|20% Off
H 7.5 in W 25 in D 19.5 in
Modernist Abstract Steel & Brass Welded Wall Sculpture
Located in San Diego, CA
Really cool and unique abstract solid steel with brass welded rods wall sculpture can be hung in many positions. it can be used as a wine rack.
Brass, Steel
Abstract Sculpture Signed Object Vase Vessel
Located in West Hartford, CT
Mid Century organic free form sculpture made out of one piece of resin. Signed on underside.
Resin
Whimsical Found Object Mixed Media Sculpture on Wooden Finial
By Fay Sciarra
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Delightfully whimsical found object sculpture with vintage elephant and clown on top of a rustic carved wood finial, with bits and pieces of crazy quilt to create a one of a kind wor...
Iron
$9,500 / item
H 60 in W 14 in D 14 in
Custom Minimalist Sculpture Welded Steel One Of A Kind Wooden Pedestal
Located in East Hampton, NY
Welded steel cube atop wooden mount completing this one of a kind sculpture. Antique rusted patina with clear coat finish Lacquered wooden pedestal mount.
Metal