Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: THE SHAKERS SAID that they did not allow or approve of art; yet one of the major legacies of their early nineteenth-century revival period was a small, but engaging, collection of drawings.1 Between 1830 and 1860, visionaries of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing produced a series of drawings which document a unique moment in Shaker history-unique not only because of the spirit manifestations which assured the abiding presence of the Heavenly Parents for the Shaker communities, but because of the artistic venture itself. 2 While Jane F. Crosthwaite is associate professor of religion at Mount Holyoke College.A shorter version of this article was presented at the 1986 annual conference of the National Historic Communal Societies Association at Canterbury Shaker Village, New Hampshire.1.The Shakers are a perfectionistic, communal society founded by English immigrants in the 1780's.They were led by Mother Ann Lee, who embodied for the Shakers who knew her and for her later followers, a witness to Christ's second coming in the female.The resulting communities were celibate and highly structured, but they were also known for their charismatic dancing and singing.They have long been valued in decorative arts and material culture fields for their architecture, furniture, and crafts.The writings by and about the Shakers is extensive.For a general introduction, see Edward Deming Andrews, The People Called Shakers: A Search for the Perfect Society (New York: Dover, 1953).For more recent studies, see (1) Daniel Patterson, The Shaker Spiritual (Princeton:
Source: Communal Societies
Author: Jane F. Crosthwaite
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7128766017
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