The Northeastern Woodworker's Association's September Meeting may be of
interest to folks here...

Thursday, September 11, 2008, 7:00 pm
Shaker Heritage Society Meetinghouse
Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, NY

What Is Shaker Furniture?

By Jerry Grant

Jerry Grant is the Director of Research and Library
Services at the Shaker Museum and Library in Old
Chatham, New York. His professional training is as a
librarian with a specialty in rare books and archives.
Jerry has been on the staff of the Shaker Museum and
Library since 1987 and has worked in jobs related to the
history and practices of the Shakers for nearly thirty
years. He is the co-author with Douglas Allen of Shaker
Furniture Makers and Noble but Plain: The Shaker
Meetinghouse at Mount Lebanon. While choosing a career
in research and rare books, Jerry has worked both as a
curator and as a craftsman - making replicas of Shaker
oval boxes.

For years there have been debates about what is or
is not Shaker Furniture. Jerry will present an illustrated
lecture on changing opinions of what is included in the
phrase, "Shaker Furniture." Early writers on the Shakers
focused on a very limited number of pieces of furniture
that met their stylistic criteria for being included in the
category of Shaker furniture. Over the years the definition
of what is Shaker has broadened, but Jerry believes
it has begun to once again contract. He will show examples
of this change and give his opinion on what it is
that makes something not only a piece of Shaker furniture
but an exciting piece of Shaker furniture.
Members of the Shaker Heritage Society have been
invited to join us at this meeting.