Shaker Color

The Shakers embraced purity of design and consummate craftsmanship in everything they created, using a typical and joyful palette expressed on walls, in textiles and clothing, and on painted furniture. Shaker Millennial Laws prescribed selected color uses, and color recipes made from pigment mixed with linseed oil were well documented and used consistently among the 19 Shaker communities that stretched from Maine to Florida. Chrome Green coated bed frames and oval boxes; Chrome Yellow brightened workshop building exteriors, interior architectural features, built-in furniture, and oval boxes; Red Ochre coated building exteriors, built-ins, furniture, and oval boxes; Orange or Salmon, created from combinations of red and yellow pigments, decorated furniture, exteriors, and woodenware; Prussian Blue coated Meeting House interiors; and Yellow Ochre was most commonly found on floors.

Hancock, Massachusetts · United States