Hancock Shaker Village Daybed

Recreated from a photograph and measurements, this design feels both modern and timeless.

- By Dillon Baker

One of the things I have come to admire as a furniture designer-maker is the timelessness of works created long before us. I am continually impressed by the works’ latent ability to establish a perpetual necessity within the lives its users. It’s this impression that suggests that the evolution of furniture, undoubtedly, parallels the human experience and exists as a direct reflection of one’s own way of living.

This sentiment is no truer now than it was with the Shakers; a communal Protestant sect which emigrated from England in the latter part of the 18th century to start a new life in America. Known for their austere and virtuous lifestyle, Shakers’ guided principles led to a display of perfection that was unrivaled for the period, and more than visible in the various crafts they created.

A model example of this unstinting quality can be seen in an extremely rare form of Shaker furniture once found in the Hancock Shaker Village, located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. What’s commonly known today as either a settee or daybed, this piece demonstrates an early example of upcycling.

What fascinates me about this piece, outside of its peculiarity, is how it seems to perfectly embody the adaptive living orthodoxy of the Shakers. The bedstead, which was no longer in use, was then ingeniously transformed into a new utilitarian design.