A18: Shaker Living Room, c. 1800 c. 1940

Curator: Well, first glance: serenity. A kind of quiet, domestic glow radiates from this miniature space. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is Narcissa Niblack Thorne’s “A18: Shaker Living Room, c. 1800”, crafted around 1940. It’s currently part of the collection at The Art Institute of Chicago. What's immediately striking is Thorne's masterful use of materials. Look closely and you'll appreciate the incredibly skilled craftsmanship in replicating the woodwork, furniture, and the textiles of that period. These were more than mere decoration, they were integral to the Shaker community's beliefs of simplicity and function. Curator: Miniature! I see that now, it suddenly explains the pristine quality, and the intensity of the quietness. A little dollhouse diorama almost, so neatly arranged it evokes a frozen moment in time, like stepping into someone’s memory. What an amazing craft. I’m intrigued by the emphasis on handcrafted pieces of that Shaker room setting – do you see what looks to be handmade rug hooked to the floor in the center? It seems to underscore that aesthetic of homespun creation. Editor: Absolutely. Thorne meticulously recreates the objects integral to the Shaker way of life. It’s this recreation of furniture, crafted by a population committed to plainness, usefulness and honesty, that makes it truly sing. Notice how objects carry their history; a chair meant for rest but built through labor, or how light floods a small, austere room. Every piece and its location tells a small tale. Curator: This appeals to the quiet observer in me. Even on a small scale, so much storytelling and history emerge here through textures, tones, light... There’s something really thought-provoking about observing that room so carefully replicated like this. It speaks to history, artifice, craft and labor and reminds us that domestic scenes, even the most minimalist ones, can contain volumes. Editor: It's the way she captured not just the Shaker aesthetic, but its social values, within a constrained space using craft and precise manufacturing processes that intrigues. The detail within detail! Curator: Ultimately it speaks to what domestic environments mean in how we reflect identity and life. Editor: Indeed!