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Shaker Museum

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

A room full of tools on a table.

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

A display of tools on a table.

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

A display of tools on a red wall.

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

A wall of tools on a red wall.

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

A group of tools on a table.

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

A wall of tools on a red wall.

Installation view of Work: Shaker Tools.

Various woodworking tools are displayed on a red table.

Hand-processed wool is either carded or combed. Long fiber wool, worsted, is combed using a pair of wool combs such as this one. Because of the long fibers, worsted yarn is strong and has a much smoother surface than yarn produced from carded wool. Shaker Museum 1950.29.1.

A wooden comb with a wooden handle.

Root cutting tool made of forged iron with an ash handle. Shaker Museum 1950.1038.1.

A wooden shovel with a wooden handle.

Jointer plane used by Brother George Wickersham, Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1135.1.

A wooden plane with a wooden handle.

Rabbet plane used by Brother George M. Wickersham, Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1174.1.

A wooden box with a knife in it.

Adz used by coopers to cut the chime bevel. Shaker Museum 1950.1265.1.

A small hammer with a wooden handle.

Thistle puller made of ash, maple, and iron. Shaker Museum 1950.1266.1.

A pair of wooden pliers on a gray background.

Rabbet plane used by Brother George M. Wickersham, Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1276.1.

A wooden plane with a handle on it.

Drawknife. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1283.1.

A knife with a wooden handle on a gray surface.

Cast steel broadax used to square up timbers. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1301.1.

An axe with a wooden handle on a gray background.

Forged iron de-horning device with maple handles. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1377.1.

A hammer and chisel with a wooden handle.

Closed scorper or inshave. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1443.1.

A wooden cane with a wooden handle.

Cooper's croze, used to cut header grooves in tops and bottoms of barrels. Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1445.1.

A piece of wood with a hole in it.

Steel side tongs. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1479.1.

A copper tool with a handle on it.

Crandall hammer, used to "face" stone surfaces. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1483.1.

A wooden hammer with a wooden handle.

Cooper's froe, used in riving barrel and cask staves. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.1497.1.

A wooden axe with a wooden handle.

Forged iron heading tool. North Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.2770.1.

A wooden hex key on a gray surface.

Steel brace with maple handle. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.3118.1.

A wooden door handle with a metal handle.

Spading fork stamped with the name of Elder Frederick W. Evans. North Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.3201.1.

A garden fork with a wooden handle.

Shaving fork used to break up and move wood chips left by woodworking machines. Canterbury, NH. Shaker Museum 1950.3485.1.

A wooden pitchfork with four blades.

Metal screw hammer wrench. Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.3533.1.

An old iron pliers on a gray surface.

Iron dibble with hickory handle, used to make planting holes in soil. North Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.3573.1.

A tool with a wooden handle on a gray surface.

Spirit level, manufactured in 1847. Hancock, MA. Shaker Museum 1950.3575.1.

A wooden planer on top of a piece of wood.

Two-tine hay fork inscribed "V / S". Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.3844.1.

A wooden rake with a wooden handle.

Fruit corer and parer, manufactured ca. 1877. North Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1950.4210.1.

A model of a machine on a wooden base.

Shovel used to turn and stir drying apples. Canterbury, NH. Shaker Museum 1952.4607.1.

A wooden shovel with a wooden handle.

Kent style claw hammer. Canterbury, NH. Shaker Museum 1952.5066.1.

A wooden hammer with a wooden handle.

Try square. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1952.5471.1.

A knife with a wooden handle on a gray surface.

Clamp or hand screw stamped 1855. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1952.5528.1.

A pair of wooden vises on a gray surface.

Forged iron divider. Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1955.7227.1.

A pair of metal pliers on a white surface.

Steel broadax, used for squaring up timbers. Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1956.8176.1.

A wooden axe with a wooden handle.

Shaker-built hand plane. Sabbathday Lake, ME. Shaker Museum 1957.9199.1.

A wooden tool with a wooden handle.

Billhook with hickory handle. Hancock, MA. Shaker Museum 1959.11346.1.

A wooden axe with a wooden handle.

Shaker-made raising plane stamped "EK" and "ID". Canterbury, NH. Shaker Museum 1968.16523.1.

A wooden box with a knife on top.

Plane stamped "AB", possibly for Brother Amos Bishop. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1990.1.15.

A wooden planer is sitting on a gray surface.

Plane used by Brother Henry DeWitt. Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1990.1.16.

A wooden planer with a knife on it.

Jointer plane stamped "JS", probably for Brother John Shapley. Second Family, Mount Lebanon, NY. Shaker Museum 1990.1.17.

A wooden plane with a blade on top.
A room full of tools on a table. A display of tools on a table. A display of tools on a red wall. A wall of tools on a red wall. A group of tools on a table. A wall of tools on a red wall. Various woodworking tools are displayed on a red table. A wooden comb with a wooden handle. A wooden shovel with a wooden handle. A wooden plane with a wooden handle. A wooden box with a knife in it. A small hammer with a wooden handle. A pair of wooden pliers on a gray background. A wooden plane with a handle on it. A knife with a wooden handle on a gray surface. An axe with a wooden handle on a gray background. A hammer and chisel with a wooden handle. A wooden cane with a wooden handle. A piece of wood with a hole in it. A copper tool with a handle on it. A wooden hammer with a wooden handle. A wooden axe with a wooden handle. A wooden hex key on a gray surface. A wooden door handle with a metal handle. A garden fork with a wooden handle. A wooden pitchfork with four blades. An old iron pliers on a gray surface. A tool with a wooden handle on a gray surface. A wooden planer on top of a piece of wood. A wooden rake with a wooden handle. A model of a machine on a wooden base. A wooden shovel with a wooden handle. A wooden hammer with a wooden handle. A knife with a wooden handle on a gray surface. A pair of wooden vises on a gray surface. A pair of metal pliers on a white surface. A wooden axe with a wooden handle. A wooden tool with a wooden handle. A wooden axe with a wooden handle. A wooden box with a knife on top. A wooden planer is sitting on a gray surface. A wooden planer with a knife on it. A wooden plane with a blade on top.

Work: Shaker Tools (2017)

The Shaker Museum was born out of a passion for tool collecting. The Museum’s founder, John S. Williams, Sr., when he moved to Columbia County in the mid-1930s began collecting tools related to farming and trades that supported farming. When he became aware of the Shakers still living at Mount Lebanon and found that they still had tools in their workshops and barns available for sale, he focused his collecting on Shaker tools and eventually other objects related to their lives. The collection quickly grew to several thousand tools, ranging from the smallest drill bits to a blacksmith’s trip-hammer weighing several tons. Williams originally organized his tools by trades, setting up a Shaker cabinetmaker’s shop, a shoe shop, a tinsmith’s shop, a basketmaker’s shop, a tailor’s shop, and so on. He invited tradesmen to come to the Museum and show visitors how various tools were used, sometimes even operating machinery for the public himself.

Tools all have a specific use. Most have a long history of how they were developed and improved. Each tool has a right and a wrong way in which it should be used. All of these stories could be told, but a tool often also has a sculptural beauty – an interesting look that goes beyond having to understand its function and history. This exhibition, which was on view in the Brethren’s Workshop at the Mount Lebanon historic site during the 2017 season, featured a variety of tools from the Museum’s collection, representing many different trades, as objects of art and design.

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