Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

The Shakers were so successful at their cottage industry of making rocking chairs for the outside world that a significant number of companies made their own "Shaker" chairs. Stickley Furniture Company, which still exists today, had an entire line of "Shaker" furniture at the time. This was popular in the late 1800s after the success of Robert Wagan's production chair discussed in an earlier blog. This infringement was done in a variety of ways. Some companies would make chairs that looked nothing at all like Shaker rocking chairs and sell them as "Shaker". Others would make chairs that were very similar to Shaker chairs and just call them their own. Some companies were so bold as to make chairs that were similar (even exact) to Shaker chairs and even called them Shaker chairs. We are not sure which is worse. These companies would also similarly copy the Shaker's innovation in marketing and began issuing their own chair catalogues, just like the Shakers.

Enterprise Chair Mfg. Co of New York (1870-1890) was a furniture company that also called some of their chairs "Shaker" rocking chairs. In fact, they made a spindle back rocker that so closely resembled a Shaker rocker that when the chairs broke in the early 1900s, people would send them to the Shaker chair company at Mount Lebanon. Chair production among the Shakers was run at that time by Sister Lillian Barlow and Brother William Perkins, who being the nice people that Shakers generally were, would fix the chairs for the customers if they could. This spindle back style chair is still today commonly referred to as a Shaker chair.

These practices gave rise to the Shaker's decision to mark their chairs with decals as we discussed in our earlier blog regarding production chairs. It also led to their evolving view of patents which we had promised to discuss in later blog and promise to do so again.

Just because it's not a Shaker chair does not mean it's not beautiful, desirable or collectable. It's just not Shaker. But the design may still be beautiful, it has still withstood the test of time, and there may even be something unique about it that makes it special. The chair pictured here we believe is one such chair. This chair is almost indistinguishable from a Shaker No. 5 Production Rocking Chair. We believe it is either from the Enterprise company mentioned above or E.H. Mahoney Company of Boston, MA, who made similar imitations. Same rocker style cut into posts the same way. Same vase turning on the front post between the seat and arms. Curved arms which end with mushroom cap posts. It even has the classic Shaker acorn pommels. But if you look really closely you will notice that the pommels are more elongated than the Shaker variety. Yup! That's it! Seems to us like an exact replica except for slightly more elongated acorn pommels. Can you believe that? Regardless, this particular chair, in addition to having the same beautiful design and patina of a Shaker chair, also has an original intact splint seat, which is very rare to find from this time period on any chair.

Special thanks to The Shaker Chair by Charles R. Muller and Timothy D. Rieman which contains an entire Appendix on antique Shaker reproduction chairs and those who made them.

I guess the Shakers should he really flattered!