Shaker chair will return to its South Union roots

The Shaker Museum at South Union is bringing a rare chair back to its place of origin to add to its collection of Shaker furniture.

“The chair was made in South Union. It has the typical South Union construction. We have many identical to it, but without the paint color,” museum executive director Tommy Hines said. “It’s one of the best of the South Union chairs we’ve ever seen (because) it has its original finish.”

The chair is, however, missing one thing, Hines said.

“It doesn’t have its original seat,” he said. “That’s not unusual because after 170 years it’s just not there.”

Painted a bright chrome yellow, the chair is a contradiction to what people imagine when they think of the Shakers, Hines said.

“It’s a John Deer yellow. People think the Shakers were very plain and liked dark colors, but the interior of their homes were bright and very clean,” he said. “The Shakers painted most of the chairs before the Civil War. They were bright colors, but (the colors) usually wore off. You can often see traces of red or yellow.”

The 1830s and 1840s were when the Shakers were building “the very best chairs here,” Hines said.

“They were used here for almost 100 years. In 1922, the Shakers had an auction when they dissolved the village and most of the chairs were auctioned to the public. This one has been part of many prominent collections.”

The chair was featured in a 1982 book called “The Shaker Chair,” Hines said.

“It’s considered to be the bible of Shaker chairs,” he said.

The chair is at the Shaker Museum at Pleasant Hill, which often works with South Union to get Shaker artifacts back to their original homes, Hines said.

“We’re picking it up in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Hines declined to give the cost of the chair, but said the museum had some donors who came together to buy it.

“We had 15 to 20 who helped,” he said.

When Cora Jane Spiller, one of the donors, heard about the chair, she said she would be glad to help.

“They’re so scarce – never to be created again. The details were so important to the Shakers. It makes every piece a prize,” she said. “Whenever the opportunity comes to get pieces, it’s so important for the Shaker Village at South Union to have them.”

The chair will join a variety of other Shaker artifacts – including homespun blankets, kerosene lamps, butter churns, oval boxes and other furniture – to help the museum tell about the day-to-day lives of the Shakers at South Union.

“We have an exhibit now that shows different styles (of chairs). It will fit in real well with it,” Hines said. “We’re constantly looking for things like this. It’s rare that something of this quality shows up on the market.”