The restoration of a case piece

The Shaker Museum acquired this Union Village, Ohio case of drawers in 1964–a gift from the Museum’s founder, John S. Williams, Sr. It is unclear where Mr. Williams purchased the piece. He may have bought it while on a trip to the western Shaker communities to acquire pieces to help the museum better represent the work of Shaker craftsmen in Ohio and Kentucky or, just as likely, he purchased it at or around Canterbury, New Hampshire, where a large quantity of Union Village furniture was moved when that village closed in 1911. However it came to the Shaker Museum, it was a piece that was never prominently exhibited because at some point it had lost its original feet and sat awkwardly on the floor, as seen to the left. The case of drawers once stood proudly elevated off the floor with minimal but eye-catching decorative feet. This was known this from a small remnant left on the piece and by studying a companion piece that remained intact in the collection of the Duxbury Art Complex in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

In 2009, the Museum asked our curatorial assistant, accomplished cabinetmaker Boyd Hutchison, if he would fabricate a new base for the piece modeled on the base of the one at Duxbury,  with adjustments accurately reflecting the remaining elements. The old base was documented, removed, and stored with the case of drawers. It was loose and apparently had been removed before. The new base was constructed as an independent piece so the case can be set securely in the base without any fasteners and can be easily restored to its condition at the time of acquisition. It is like having a new piece in the collection–one that we could move to the forefront of any exhibition and feel we were presenting an accurate representation of the Shaker craftsman’s original intent and design.