Mrs. Hancock

Allison and I went back to Shaker Heritage Society to visit their holiday boutique again. My goal was to look around for a weaver chair like this one to try to figure out if the one Allison bought at auction is a Shaker chair or a reproduction (Shaker Workshops, perhaps?). No luck on that front, but Allison picked up some cute things. The second half of the road trip was to visit Mrs. Hancock (not her real name). Mrs. Hancock responded to a "Wanted to Buy" ad I placed in the Albany Times Union looking for Shaker chairs. Mrs. Hancock said she had several and asked us to meet her at her office, not far from Hancock Shaker Village. She showed up with three chairs. A production "3" (of which I have too many already), a production "6" (which was very creaky), and a "work" chair (similar to the one I am already trying to figure out what to do with). So unfortunately, we left empty handed as far as chairs, but it was interesting to meet Mrs. Hancock whose parents worked as laborers at the Hancock Shaker community near its end and where she spent part of her childhood. As for the mystery chair, I am corresponding with the lead woodworker at Shaker Workshops. I just sent him some photos. Hopefully he can confirm that it is an original!