Shaker Furniture Collection 2007/08
Origin of the Shaker Furniture Company
It all started 20 years ago when daughter Sara gave me a present she bought from her second grade fair- a cute pair of vintage salt and pepper shaker fish. So cute in fact that I decided that I would start collecting these shakers, but with a constraint; only ones shaped like fish. Thus the collection was born. A few years later when I was in an antique store, I spied Grandma and Grandpa Donkey shakers. Ok, from now on, only fish and donkey shakers in the collection.
But I couldn’t help myself. Through the years the collection has grown to include shakers of all descriptions. I prefer each shaker of a pair to be different. Animals are abundant and vegetables, both whole and with human bodies doing all the things humans do, make up the majority of the collection.
During Thanksgiving while the turkey is cooking, we cut linoleum blocks whose prints will later become our Christmas card. One Thanksgiving, I was stumped for subject matter so I grabbed the original set of fish shakers Sara gave me and used that for my block. It turned out pretty good so for the next 6 years I used shakers as subject matter for my Christmas card block. Liking the images so much, I printed each block as a limited edition and hand-colored them. One thing leads to another!
One year, I had the opportunity to buy out a “large” collection of shakers. The estimated count was 1,500 pairs. I gleaned from it the sets I wanted for my collection and then mulled over what to do with the remaining 1,400. My husband, always ready with the pun, suggested that I make some armatures shaped like tables and chairs, glue the shakers to it and call it “Shaker Furniture”- get it? Ha- Ha! Hey, that’s not a bad idea…
The opportunity to try this out came in the summer of 2006 when the fundraiser for the TASP (Trenton After School Program) entitled “Chairs For Children” asked artists to artistify a chair for their auction. Now I would get to see how in practice my theory would work.
All went well with encrusting the chair with the shakers and I added color with flat marbles. Well enough until I set it down and the sculpture that looked full and bold on the table looked small and diminutive on the floor. It had to be raised up somehow. Thinking quickly, I made a box, faux painted it to look like a packing crate- nails and all- turned it upside down and placed the chair on top. To make it all come together, I painted the name “Shaker Furniture Company, Trenton, NJ” on each side and the rest is history.--
It all started 20 years ago when daughter Sara gave me a present she bought from her second grade fair- a cute pair of vintage salt and pepper shaker fish. So cute in fact that I decided that I would start collecting these shakers, but with a constraint; only ones shaped like fish. Thus the collection was born. A few years later when I was in an antique store, I spied Grandma and Grandpa Donkey shakers. Ok, from now on, only fish and donkey shakers in the collection.
But I couldn’t help myself. Through the years the collection has grown to include shakers of all descriptions. I prefer each shaker of a pair to be different. Animals are abundant and vegetables, both whole and with human bodies doing all the things humans do, make up the majority of the collection.
During Thanksgiving while the turkey is cooking, we cut linoleum blocks whose prints will later become our Christmas card. One Thanksgiving, I was stumped for subject matter so I grabbed the original set of fish shakers Sara gave me and used that for my block. It turned out pretty good so for the next 6 years I used shakers as subject matter for my Christmas card block. Liking the images so much, I printed each block as a limited edition and hand-colored them. One thing leads to another!
One year, I had the opportunity to buy out a “large” collection of shakers. The estimated count was 1,500 pairs. I gleaned from it the sets I wanted for my collection and then mulled over what to do with the remaining 1,400. My husband, always ready with the pun, suggested that I make some armatures shaped like tables and chairs, glue the shakers to it and call it “Shaker Furniture”- get it? Ha- Ha! Hey, that’s not a bad idea…
The opportunity to try this out came in the summer of 2006 when the fundraiser for the TASP (Trenton After School Program) entitled “Chairs For Children” asked artists to artistify a chair for their auction. Now I would get to see how in practice my theory would work.
All went well with encrusting the chair with the shakers and I added color with flat marbles. Well enough until I set it down and the sculpture that looked full and bold on the table looked small and diminutive on the floor. It had to be raised up somehow. Thinking quickly, I made a box, faux painted it to look like a packing crate- nails and all- turned it upside down and placed the chair on top. To make it all come together, I painted the name “Shaker Furniture Company, Trenton, NJ” on each side and the rest is history.--
