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To construct a Shaker box, two bands of thin wood are cut, then steamed or soaked until pliable. They are bent into ovals, and then their two overlapping ends are joined to form the lid and body. A delicate swallowtail joint, with carved fingers tacked to the opposite end of the strip, connects these overlapping ends. This joint breathes without warping or buckling. Shakers preferred copper tacks to hold down the fingers. These short, broad-headed tacks are bent over by means of an anvil after piercing the fingers and the underlying strip of maple. The tacks must be carefully spaced to avoid splitting the finger joints, and the regularity of the spacing is essential to making a pleasing form. The lid top and the base bottom are cut to size, affixed to the body and lid, and the box is complete.
The Shakers took great care to create boxes that were utilitarian while being crafted for their beauty and durability. They were more than practical in selecting materials and construction methods. White pine was generally chosen for the tops and bottoms because it’s easy to cut. They often used maple for the sides because it lends itself to bending so well. Authentic Shaker boxes were sometimes made from birch, especially in Maine and New Hampshire, but pine-and-maple boxes are by far the most common. Shakers typically used varnish or paint to finish their boxes. They used a wide range of pigments: chrome yellow, yellow ochre (French yellow), red ochre (Venetian red), red lead, Prussian blue, Verditer, and chrome green (a combination of Prussian blue and chrome yellow), and rarely, Spanish brown. Different communities tended to have varied palettes, with some of the Maine boxes displaying darker hues. After the beginning of the 20th century, paint was rarely used as a finish. |
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