furniture_exhibition_design 家具展厅设计.doc

. The evolution of design in Shaker furnitureJean M. Burks Shaker furniture design was not static, evolved during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and even twentieth centuries. In the past a great deal of attention has been focused on the classic Shaker furniture produced from about 1820 to 1850-a time of intense religious renewal when the Believers were isolated from the world. The so-called stylistic decline in the furniture produced after the Civil War has been attributed to a breakdown in orthodoxy among the faithful, according to one popular theory.1 This view holds that forsaking the simple life for worldly display was a result of internal disintegration, accelerated by increased contact with the world. Instead of paring down worldly fashion, the Shakers applied historical-revival motifs to simple forms (see Fig. 3). Perhaps this opinion reflects too closely the twentieth-century bias against late nineteenth-century taste as well as the current preference for modernism in an, architecture, and industrial design. 2A more plausible explanation for the transformation of Shaker design recognizes that the sect was extremely progressive and concerned about its image, which seemed uncomfortably old-fashioned as the nineteenth century advanced. This was felt to be impeding conversions and complicating business relationships.In this light, both architectural modifications to existing structures and the design of interior furnishings can be viewed as conscious efforts to keep pace with the world by presenting a modem face to potential converts and business acquaintances. The theory is supported by Brother Oliver Hampton (1817-1901) of Union Village, Ohio, who wrote in 1887:Forms, fashions, customs, external rules all have to bow to the fiat of evolution and progress toward that which is more perfect. This need not alarm the most conservative Believer. For unless we keep pace with the progress of the universe our individual progress will be impossibility. We shall be whirled off at some side station and relegated to the limbo of worn out-superannuated and used-up institutions.2In 1904, Eldress Anna White (1831-1910) the Mount Lebanon community in New York State wrote:The Shaker may change his style of coat, may alter the cut of her gown or cease to wear a cap, and no harm be done. Vital harm may be done by retaining either, merely to preserve old forms and customs, when the time is crying out in vain for action; for spontaneous out-reaching sympathy here, aid there, cooperation yonder. FIT Shakerism to humanity today, as the fathers and Mothers of the past fitted it to their age and time.3A more physical expression of this point of view is documented in Elder Henry Clay Blinns description of the changes he found in various Shaker communities during a whirlwind journey from New Hampshire to Kentucky in 1873. Of the dwelling at North Union, Ohio, for instance, he wrote on June 28:One part of the house has been repainted & is in striking contrast with that which is left. Some of the doors were grained; others had drab panels & pink trimmings. Some of the wood work was marbled. The meeting room had a peculiarly neat appearance. The ceiling overhead as well as on the sides of the room were painted in colors. It was a new feature & the Sister attempted to make an apology but it was needless.4And one worldly visitor to the Canterbury, New Hampshire, community about 1917 recollected,I remember so well driving up in the big Locomobile limousine; it didnt look out of place, since they had their own expensive cars. I remember how surprised Mother was at our gestrooms-no Shaker furniture, just modem things-probably like Grand Rapids furniture.5It seems clear that the Believers later furniture and interiors are as valid a reflection of their beliefs as comparable objects produced during the classic period, and so should be studied as a relevant aspect of their material culture. The evolution of Shaker design is most apparent in the products of the village in Canterbury, for that community remained in existence until 1992, and the interiors of its buildings, which incorporate many built-in elements, we intact.The first structure erected at Canterbury was the meetinghouse of 1792. Four doors (see Pl.I) leading to storage areas under the eaves in the attic of the meetinghouse represent early Shaker design and construction. Typical of vernacular eighteenth-century rural New England architecture, the doors, with heavy raised panels, are assembled withmortise-and-tenon joints secured with double pins, wrought-iron H hinges, hand-forged T-headed nails, and spring latches. The other woodwork in the room includes a chair-rail molding made up of a bold half-round over a cove, and a projecting baseboard molding with an ogee profile. All the woodwork retains its original opaque royal-blue paint.The most impressive example of built-in storage at Canterbury is in the attic of the Church Family Dwelling House (Pl. VI). Constructed in 1837 as an addition to the original building of 1793, the thirty-five-foot-long room is equipped with six walk-in closets, fourteen cupboards, and more than one hundred drawers to store off-season bedding, clothing, and crockery. Compared to the earlier woodwork in the meetinghouse, the design is more refined and delicate. The cabinet doors have commercial cast-iron hinges and narrow quarter-round moldings on the interior face surrounding the flat panels. The most significant changes in design, however, are in the architectural moldings: while the baseboard is identical to that in the dwelling house, the three-inch-wide crown molding includes an ogee with a fillet, and a complex projecting molding has been placed between the cupboards and the drawers. A feature of Canterbury built-in units, this molding not only visually organizes the wall into distinct upper and lower units, but also masks the joint between the two sections. In marked contrast to the painted woodwork of the previous century, these drawers and cabinets are covered with a transparent ocher stain that reveals the grain of the pine beneath.Changing tastes, new technology, and improved standards of comfort dictated a constant reappraisal of the dwelling house, particularly of the kitchen and bathrooms. In 1837 the two-story north porch was moved from the back of the building to the cast end, where the first floor served as a bakery and the upper story provided more lodging for the sisters. In December 1917 further revisions were made:we take the lower rooms in East porch and convert same into one large room. Put in three toilets, two bathrooms, four lavatories, one double laundry tray and one sink. Connect drainage from same with main drain between Dwelling House and Sisters Shop. Sheath room with first quality N.C North Carolina pine. All water pipeing done in brass. Make hot water connections in such a way that entire house can be supplied from either kitchen or bake-room boiler. Plumbing done by C. W. Bateman, Concord. Cost of labor $154.00. Lumber $100.00.6The renovated bathroom (Pl. V) clearly documents the Shakers familiarity with early twentieth-century worldly taste, although elements of the past remain. For example, when constructing the wall unit, which is an abbreviated version of the earlier floor-to-ceiling built-in units, the thrifty craftsmen used flat-panel cupboards of mortise-and-tenon construction and six dovetailed drawers-all almost certainly used previously elsewhere. These functional but out-of-date elements have been set into a fashionable wall of tongue-and-groove beaded yellow pine paneling. The architectural moldings, too, have been updated: the crown molding is now a deep ogee over a cove; the band between the cabinet and drawers consists of a bullnose over a quarter round; and the baseboard has been replaced with an ovolo curve. The modem, commercially made cast-iron pulls on the drawers have been screwed into remnants of the original turned wooden knobs. The homogeneous look of earlier woodwork has been abandoned in order to emphasize sharp contrasts: white-painted cupboard doors and drawer fronts, reminiscent of the colonial revival, are set against the figured grain of the pine panels; the matte finish of the painted surfaces contrasts with the highly reflective, varnished wall; and the relatively flat surfaces of the built-in units are juxtaposed with the raised profile of the paneling and the moldings.The furniture for the shops at Canterbury is another example of the evolution of Shaker design. As early as 1794 the Shakers there were producing wool and flax, weaving their own textiles, and making clothes, hats, shoes, and furniture. To accommodate these activities, they designed and produced counters that combined work surfaces and storage units. The earliest known example was, according to oral tradition and physical evidence, built into the south room on the third floor of the 1792 meetinghouse (Pi. IV). It was probably made in 1815, when the ministry moved its dwelling rooms from the third floor to the second. In that year the interior woodwork of the third-floor room was repainted dark blue, according to Blinn,7 and the blue of the counter matches the color of the repainted trim. The color blue is prevalent on New England country furniture of the period, but the Shakers seem to have reserved this costly pigment for the buildings in which they worshiped. In a striking deviation, the top of the cabinet and the shelves inside are stained salmon orange. The purely functional layout of the nearly nine-foot-long facade, accessible only from one side, exemplifies the asymmetrical arrangement so prominent in Shaker furniture. The counter is simply constructed with plank pine sides, and the base rests directly on the floor.By the 1840s the Shaker counter had assumed industrial proportions. No longer built into the wall, these free-standing units, raised on bracket feet, were placed in the center of the room, where they were accessible from all four sides. The one in Plate VIII, dated 1845 and measuring twelve feet long by almost four feet deep, is the largest known surviving example. It was probably assembled in the room in which it still stands, since it is too large to fit through the door frames, which are original. These units were designed to facilitate specific activities performed regularly by the sisters. This one may have been used by the seamstresses, for in 1891 Blinn wrote that the north west room in the second loft of the sisters shop is used by those who make sisters dresses.8 The counter has sixteen long drawers (eight to a side), two cupboards, and twelve short drawers. An ingenious locking mechanism enables the user to secure each bank of six short drawers in two simple steps. An identical locking device is found on a bank of built-in drawers dating from 1849 in the infirmary attic, which suggests a common maker at Canterbury.The final stage in the evolution of the Shaker counter is represented by the free-standing cabinetmakers work-bench illustrated in （Plate VII）, probably dating from about 1880. Clearly intended for heavy use, it is solidly constructed of thick hardwood. The sides are of tongue-and-groove beaded chestnut and the top is a two-inch-thick slab of flame birch supported by two-by-three-inch comer posts. One end is fitted with a wooden leg vise. Decorative details borrowed from historical-revival designs include walnut moldings around all the drawer faces, commercially made cast-iron pulls, and the lively figure of the wood, which retains its original varnish finish.Although borrowing some features from rococo and neoclassical designs, the Shaker sewing desk is one of the few forms that has no exact counterpart in furniture produced outside the community. Almost all of some eighty-five surviving examples were made in Shaker communities in Maine and New Hampshire. Three distinct types of furniture for sewing were made at Canterbury during the nineteenth century, providing yet another opportunity. to study the evolution of Shaker design. The earliest, dating from about 1820 (see Pl. IX), suggests a combination of the rococo slant-front desk and the dry sink. Strongly vertical in feel, it has several drawers and a rimmed work surface with a removable slide that fits beneath it. On one side of the case are a drawer and single pull-out support; when they are extended the removable slide can be placed across them so that the desk can accommodate two workers at once. Both the design and the construction of this type of desk emphasize the visual seventy and serviceable simplicity of We early Canterbury, aesthetic. All the known examples are of pine either stained red or varnished, and all have low bracket feet or feet that are an extension of the sides.The Canterbury serving desks of the 1860s dramatically evolved in style, proportion, and decoration, revealing a striking similarity to and familiarity with neoclassical design. Compare, for example, the Shaker sewing desks in Plate X with the ladys secretary made by George W. Rogers of Concord, New Hampshire, in Figure 2. This new style of sewing desk is characterized by a case constructed of framed panels rather than slab sides, delicately turned legs, a complicated drawer configuration that utilizes both the front and side of the case, and a gallery combining both long and short drawes with a cupbroard. The over-all effect is one of movement, with the emphasis on the horizontal and asymmetrical rather than the vertical and symmetrical. The ornamental effect is created by the use of dramatically patterned hardwoods, such as birds-eye maple or figured birch and cherry, which have been finished with a translucent varnish that reveals the grain. Several examples of this kind of sewing desk survive made by Benjamin Smith (see Pl. X) and four signed by Eli Kidder (1783-1867), both of Canterbury.9 All date from the early 1860s, suggesting that they may have been produced to help the sisters complete a special commercial project.10The final stage in the evolution of the sewing desk at Canterbury is represented by the products of William Briggs (who left the community in 1899) and Henry Blinn. The example in Figure I was made by Blinn, probably about 1870. Still a functional, well-proportioned, solidly-built case piece of frame-and-panel construction, the desk introduces a new level of fashion and clearly reflects an awareness of contemporary worldly design and a conscious imitation of late nineteenth-century decorative details. The light drawer faces are framed by contrasting walnut molding, and commercially made porcelain knobs-considered superfluous by strict Shakers-have replaced wooden pulls.Shaker cabinetmakers were familiar not only with late nineteenth-century American styles but also with progressive international designs originating in France and England, and they incorporated Renaissance revival, art nouveau, and arts and crafts elements into their designs. The Shakers of Enfield, New Hampshire, set up a bedstead shop in town in 1854, which they leased to a manufacturing company from North Enfield. However, the Shakers presumably remained in contact with the shop since it certainly influenced their own production. An example is the bed in Plate XI, attributed to Franklin Youngs of the Enfield community, which is closely related to one he made for his own use.11 It retains remnants of its Shaker origins in the shape of the turned legs, the frame-and-panel construction, and the division of the surface into panels of light and dark woods, which is an extension of the design of the Shaker sewing desk of the 1860s (see Pl. X). But from a design standpoint the most noticeable features of the bed-the applied crests and shields-document the makers familiarity with the Renaissance revival style of the 1870s.Some unique pieces of Shaker furniture show an even closer affinity with worldly design. The unusual sycamore desk in Plate XIII, for example, is unlike other known Shaker desks, but is similar to numerous commercially made oak examples of the period, and the flowing organic carving of the top is closely related to contemporary art nouveau motifs. The oval design on the drawers, often created with inlays or veneers on earlier Federal furniture, was probably here produced by punching the wood with a metal tool, following the method used to decorate leather. According to oral tradition the desk was made by Brother Delmer Wilson for his bedroom at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. He used it as a prop in several of the hundreds of glass-plate photographs in which he chronicled the lives of the brothers and sisters of the community.12Clearly, although the Shakers lived apart from worldly society, they were not oblivious to current fashion. Shaker woodworkers not only could have had access to worldly periodicals, such as the London art journal The Studio (founded 1893), but many of them had been trained in the world and brought its skills, tools, and tastes to their Shaker communities. 1 See Mary Lyn Ray, A Reappraisal of Shaker Furniture, in Winterthur Portfolio 8, ed. Ian M. G. Quimby (1973), p. 130. 2 Quoted in The Shakers: Two Centuries of Spiritual Reflection, ed. Robley Edward Whitson (New York and Ramsey, New Jersey, 1983), p. 143. 3 Quoted in Amy Stechler Burns, The Shakers: