Staircase

Description

Steps. Four steps cut from single marble block. Top platform fitted with iron boot scraper 11" w x 5 3/16" d; arms have octagonal cross-section; joining them is a thin blade.

Notes

Few examples of steps cut from a single block of stone exist outside of those found in Shaker communities. These steps were cut by Hezekiah Osborn, who carved his name and "AD 1807" into a flattened panel on the side of the steps that faced the wall. Osborn (1768?-1813), a member of the Shaker community at Hancock, worked as a stone cutter for a number of years. During renovation of the Hancock Trustees Office in 1972, an earlier example of his work, a marble pile, was found in the crawl space under the kitchen. It is inscribed, "HEZEKIAH OSBORN Cut This Pile AD 1798" (HSV #72-214). When the steps were acquired in 1960, they were located on the back side of a building referred to as the "woodworking house," most likely now called the "Laundry and Machine Shop," parts of which were built in 1790. The top platform of the steps is fitted with an iron boot scraper. Reference: Letter accompanying payment from SM&L dated October 12, 1960, to Sister Mary Dahm. (SM&L archives)