Stamp, Marking

Description

Chair logo stamp carved into a rectangular block of brass which is set into a turned handle of beech (Fagus grandifolia) with a brass ferrule. The block is 29/32 x 1 17/32" x 1 5/16." The chair logo stamp has a 3/4 view of a side chair in the center and around the outside, "Trade-Mark / Shaker's / Mt. Lebanon, N.Y." and "No."

Notes

This stamp may have been an unsuccessful experiment to produce trademarks for Shaker chairs. The brass block was heated and pressed onto a foil made of bronze powder that imitated gold leaf or onto real gold leaf in order to transfer the raised portions of the design onto a paper label or directly onto the chair. A few paper labels printed with this stamp survive, but few have been found affixed to Shaker chairs. In the mid-1870s the Shakers, concerned about differentiating their chairs from imitations, marked their chairs with gold decals made by Palm, Fechteler & Co., of New York City. These decals are frequently found on Shaker chairs. Chair catalogues cautioned customers that "All Chairs of our make will have a Gold Transfer Trade Mark attached to them and none others are Shakers Chairs."