Settee
Artist
South Family, Shaker Community
(American, New Lebanon, New York)
Datec. 1895
MediumSoft maple, cloth tape
DimensionsOverall: 33 5/8 × 40 1/2 × 20 1/4in. (85.4 × 102.9 × 51.4cm)
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number70.8
DescriptionShaker settee with arms. Original woven tape seat and back. Flattened mushroom on arms and flame finial on supports.On View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextShaker-made settees are extraordinarily rare. They were not included in the Shakers' catalogues but were created out of their existing line of chairs. Fewer than a half-dozen settees survive; some are larger than this example, which suggests that all may have been made to order.
A settee was made from standard armchair parts with extra-long front and back stretchers to hold a double seat. To bear the weight of an extra person, the stretchers that carry the woven seat and back are thicker than those on chairs.
ATD
