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Opening Reception: Simply Shaker Thursday, August 14, 5-7pm |
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Stitching Communities Saturday, August 23, 3-5pm |
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art and the Consulate General of Mexico have the pleasure to invite you to a special event with Mexico City-based artist Carla Fernández and local artists celebrating Stitching Communities. More about the event»
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Trunk Show:
Wood Wares Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 7 |
Inspired by the ubiquitous use of wood in Shaker design, we invited our favorite artists working in wood to display their latest and best designs. Join us for a reception with the artists on Friday September 5, 5-7pm.
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Artist Salon Talk:
History of Shaker life and design Saturday, September 27, 2pm* |
Join Dr. Ken Byers for a historical journey through Shaker history and a deeper look at the construction of Shaker furniture through his museum quality miniatures. Dr. Ken Byers has been studying and making miniature Shaker furniture for over thirty years.
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Juxtapose: Fashion Into Art Saturday, October 4, 11am-5pm |
The Museum of Craft and Folk Art will host its annual fashion sale, Juxtapose: Fashion Into Art at Market Square, 1355 Market St. between 9th and 10th Street in San Francisco. This year Juxtapose brings the best of Bay Area fashion, jewelry, and accessories under one roof, for one day only, to provide a distinctive shopping event for savvy fashionistas. More about the Event, Directions, and Artist »
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Family Activity Day Saturday, October 11, 2-4pm* |
Create your own Shaker-inspired work of art. Led by our School Program staff, and designed to give families a chance to create together: fun for all ages!
Docent Tours
1pm: First Tuesday of every month; 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month*
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SAVE THE DATE! |
Tuesday, November 11
25th Anniversary Gala: celebrating the past and the future of craft and folk art
All events marked * are free with Museum admission.
For more information about these events, please call the Museum at (415) 227-4888.
Pictured on homepage:
Detail: Shaker Tall Case Clock, circa 1810.
Watervliet, New York.
Pine, in old surface.
79 x 18 ¾ x 11 in.
Pictured top banner:
A stack of oval boxes from Canterbury, N.H. in assorted colors of paint. Photo cortesy of Benjamin H. Rose IV.
SIMPLY SHAKER:
The Ben and Toby Rose Collection
of Shaker Arts and Crafts
August 15—November 2, 2008
Shaker Tall Case Clock, |
The Ben and Toby Rose Collection of Shaker Arts and Crafts is a comprehensive collection of furniture and objects broadly representing Shaker life and Shaker style, with highlights of particularly iconic objects. A result of the couple’s tradition of extensive collecting and restoration projects beginning in the mid-1960s, the collection grew commensurate with Rose’s interest in learning about the work of the Shakers. Over the years, the collection became recognized as one of the foremost private collections of Shaker furniture and artifacts. It has been visited by groups including the American Decorative Arts Forum, the Furniture History Society (of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London), the Walpole Society, major donor groups from Winterthur and the Nelson Atkins Museum, and it has been featured in several magazine articles including the Magazine Antiques.
Visitors will have the opportunity to learn how Shakers lived through the objects they created: furniture, household objects, tools and equipment, textiles and textile equipment, and graphics. The majority of works featured in Simply Shaker are considered to be masterpieces of Shaker furniture made between the years of 1820-1860. The Museum Store will feature Shaker-related goods you can take home with you.
A pair of Enfield, N.H. chairs.
Photo cortesy of Benjamin H. Rose IV.
Background
America's oldest experiment in utopian, communal living, the United Society of Believers movement was founded by Ann Lee (1736—1784), who, with a small band of followers, emigrated to America from England in 1774. From New York they traveled north, buying land near Albany; by 1781 they were established enough to undertake a mission to New England. After Mother Ann’s death, subsequent leaders spread the faith throughout New England and as far west as Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The society reached its apogee of about 6,000 members just before the Civil War and then slowly went into decline. Yet the Shakers have lasted longer and gained more fame than any other utopian community this country has produced. Shaker design continues to influence architects, artists, furniture makers, and product designers around the world.
