Simplicity. Purity. Harmony. Honesty. Practicality. These tenets of the Shaker community are reflected in all the decorative and utilitarian objects they crafted, - from basic, unadorned furniture to straw baskets to textiles to symbol-intensive drawings to characteristically plain oval wooden boxes with distinctive "swallowtail" joints and overlapping "fingers" at the seams. Their timeless quality, integrity of form and materials, and fine workmanship have long appealed to collectors appreciative of such a purist aesthetic.

The Shaker fundamentalist sect in America was founded by a woman called Mother Ann Lee, who, with seven followers, came from Manchester, England, in 1774, first settling at Niskeyuna, near Albany, N.Y. Then, a dozen years later, they founded what would be their permanent central colony at New Lebanon, N.Y. Their aim was to build a heaven on earth in self-contained communities. Officially named The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, they became known (derisively) as Shakers or "Shaking Quakers" because of the ecstatic quality of the group dancing (to "shake out sin") that was an essential part of their religious service.

In New Lebanon, they formed an independent society centered on strict religious principles that impacted every aspect of their lives, modeled on the vision of a heavenly kingdom guided by the precept of "true gospel simplicity." At its zenith just before the Civil War, the Shakers achieved a membership of 6,000, establishing 19 colonies from Maine to Kentucky, becoming the most successful utopian community ever established in this country.

The Shakers made by hand almost everything needed by their communities, and also made objects to be sold to the outer world, most prominently their elegantly simple chairs, (but also "medicinal preparations," berry-based wines, herbs, pickles, vegetable seeds, brooms, brushes and mops) to pay for raw materials. The Shakers' personal, noncommercial furnishings are most sought after by collectors because their quantity is so limited - in particular late-19th century examples marked with their users' initials. These include shop and kitchen tools, small hanging shelves and cupboards, large dining tables, chairs specifically made for weavers (with long legs and seats that tip forward) and for ironers, small chests (some made with drawers on two sides so that a pair Shaker sisters could work at the same time).

Physical evidence of the elaborate rituals, visionary and psychic experience of the Shakers can be found in their spirit drawings, thought to be received as "gifts" or visions from God (although they were carefully planned, composed and executed), viewed not as art works but as pictorial representations of divine revelations. In fact, the Shakers themselves did not refer to these works as drawings but as gifts, sheets, emblems, rolls or presents. These contain certain stock symbols: the heart denoting love, lamps and candles symbolizing heavenly light, clocks signifying mortality, trees representing the Tree of Life or Tree of Light, etc, and some were actually in the shape of a leaf or a heart. Most were executed in ink and watercolor on paper, in soft shades of blue, green and yellow, were dated, and some of these rarities contain considerable passages of text.

RECOMMENDED REFERENCE

"Shaker Design: Out of This World" (Yale University Press), edited by Jean Burks, the author of three respected works on Shaker furniture, is a substantial volume that was published as a catalog for an exhibition shown at the Shelburne Museum and at the Bard Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture. Comprising essays by seven distinguished scholars on Shaker life, design and spirituality, it considers the furniture and other objects they constructed, their gift drawings, and the influence they had on such later designers as Scandinavian modern furniture makers. It is illustrated with a profusion of prime examples demonstrating the wide range of fascinating objects made by this extraordinary sect.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, including "Cool Names for Babies" and "The Baby Name Bible" (St. Martin's Press; www.babynamebible.com). She cannot answer letters personally.

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