Swift
1840–50
Medium
Maple, birch, iron, and cotton twine
Dimensions
Unfolded: 54 × 51 × 57.2 cm (21 5/16 × 20 1/8 × 22 9/16 in.); Folded: 54 × 11.4 × 7.6 cm (21 5/16 × 4 1/2 × 3 in.)
Classification
wood
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
71963
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Arts of the Americas collection at the Art Institute of Chicago *Swift* (1840–50) the Shaker community's masterful blend of utility and understated elegance. Crafted anonymously by Shaker artisans—members of a celibate, communal religious sect flourishing in mid-19th-century New—this wooden tool was designed for winding yarn into skeins, a daily necessity in their self-sufficient villages. Shaker philosophy emphasized simplicity, honesty in workmanship, and functionality, rejecting ornamentation in favor of pure form, as captured in their adage: "Shaker hands do the work, Shaker...