- courtesy LUMA
- Shaker chairs on pegs
Of all the religious sects in the world, there is probably none more American than the United Society of Believers, or Shakers, who combined mysticism and a utopian vision with Yankee ingenuity, talent for entrepreneurship and PR, and excellent design sense. The Loyola University Museum of Art is currently showing three exhibits of their art, music, furniture, and architecture, collectively known as “Shaker in Chicago,” the first major exhibit of Shaker art, architecture, and artifacts here.
“Day-to-day life was very prescribed,” says Ambrose. “You knew your place. It took worry and concern off people.” As Mother Ann Lee used to say—and Shakers liked to repeat—”Hands to work and hearts to God.” Work was a way of worship.
Instead, in 1843 they sent out an explanation of their beliefs to world leaders, the 450-plus-page manifesto A Holy, Sacred, and Divine Roll and Book: From the Lord God of Heaven to the Inhabitants of the Earth (a copy of which is also on display). “It was a PR vehicle,” says Ambrose. According to an article in the exhibit catalog by Christian Goodwillie, a professor at Hamilton College, the Sacred Roll was “a dud,” vastly outclassed by The Book of Mormon. The production process also contributed to the early death of one of the (non-Shaker) printers.
“The peculiar grace of a Shaker chair,” wrote the Catholic monk and mystic Thomas Merton, “is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing that an angel might come and sit on it.”
- courtesy LUMA
- A Shaker dresser
Ironically, around the same time Shakers and their furniture were becoming more rare, non-Shakers began appreciating their sense of style and, to a lesser extent, their way of life. Faith and Edward Deming Andrews were the first and most acquisitive collectors; their collection makes up most of “Gather Up the Fragments.” Frank Lloyd Wright was also an admirer.
