SHAKER WORKSHOPS PAINTED OVAL BOXES
We make our Shaker oval boxes entirely by hand, cutting the "swallowtails" carefully from solid Pennsylvania cherry, immersing the sides in very hot water, and bending them around a wooden form. The sides are fastened with solid copper tacks. We repeat this process for the lid. Tops and bottoms are attached with wooden pegs. We use reproductions of the original forms and templates used at the Mt. Lebanon, New York Shaker community during the mid-19th century. Like the Shakers, we produce our oval boxes in eleven different sizes and we use the original Shaker numbering system (No. 11 being the smallest box and No. 1 being the largest box).
The Shakers painted or stained many of their oval boxes. We hand paint these boxes in our workshop using water-based, lead-free colors, then we lightly rub them for an antiqued look. Our colors are very close to those the Shakers used.
Please specify color(s) / quantity below.
Available Colors: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow.
