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Design & History

Throughout the furniture industry today most designs, both good and bad, that are plain in style are dubbed “Shaker”. This unfortunate practice has left the public mis-salesrmed and confused about what Shaker furniture is. The Shakers were a religious sect that started in late 18th century America. They made furniture for use in their communes and for sale to the outside world. The furniture was very plain and much of it was quite beautiful. The Shakers were not striving to make beautiful furniture. They were striving to make furniture that was purely functional. They wanted to eliminate all that did not add to the function. They believed that ornament that did not add to the function was sinful. If a chair leg of one and a half inch diameter could support a chair, then making it two inches was ornamental and therefore sinful. Thus the furniture has a clean lined, delicate look that appeals to our modern tastes.

A few of our pieces like the Shaker candle stand are reproductions of Shaker antiques. Most of our pieces are not Shaker designs, but contemporary designs inspired by Shaker design and philosophy. In designing furniture Mr. Case uses a concept he was taught as a freshman design student 30 years ago “form follows function.” The Shakers had this figured out 200 years ago.