SHAKER FURNITURE MOTIF ART

The Shakers, a 19th-century Christian utopian community in America, believed that making something well was in itself “an act of prayer.” Their furniture and crafts—clean lines, functional form, subtle carved motifs like the Tree of Life on gift drawings—reflect a divine simplicity and egalitarian ethos. This folk art, an inclusive American heritage, has worldwide influence as a model of honest design, spirituality in workmanship, and the beauty of simplicity.