the shaker world: life art belief
john t kirk is a furniture historian and currently this is the best academic reference on the shakers. i was surprised to learn of a period in their history when mother ann lee and her early followers at watervliet engaged in heavy drinking and naked dancing as an aid to religious expression
the shaker aesthetic was the result of a combination of the neoclassical style of the period and their desire for simplicity leading to the elimination of any unnecessary features from their designs
"the peculiar grace of a shaker chair is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing that an angel might come and sit on it" thomas merton in edward deming andrews and faith andrews "religion in wood: a book of shaker furniture"
"regularity is beautiful
there is great beauty in harmony
order is the creation of beauty. it is heaven's first law and the protection of souls
love of beauty has a wider field of action in association with moral force
beauty rests on utility
all beauty that has not a foundation in use, soon grows distasteful, and needs continual replacement with something new
that which has itself the highest use possesses the greatest beauty"
the fact that the shakers are percieved as precursors of minimalism is a result of how they were presented in the work of early scholars and collectors with a vested interest in the value of the artifacts. this is particularly true of the way furniture was shown in black and white photographs of otherwise empty rooms