Fruits of the tree: resources on Shaker art

Author: Harrington, Sara

Source: Reference Services Review, Volume 33, Number 2, 2005 , pp. 235-249(15)

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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Abstract:

Purpose - Provides students, scholars, and interested parties an introductory essay and selected bibliography of recent resources on the art and material culture of the Shakers, a communitarian religious group who lived in the United States from the 18th to 21st centuries. Design/methodology/approach - Introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and exhibition catalogues examining Shaker art and material culture dating from 1987 to the present. Findings - Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship on Shaker art, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions of well and lesser known Shaker objects. Practical implications - Provides a point of departure for an exploration of Shaker studies, focusing on the art and material culture of the Shakers, and highlights important sources within the growing body of literature on the Shakers. Originality/value - As the only recent annotated bibliography of material on Shaker art, the article provides access to interdisciplinary resources that are widely scattered within the humanities literature and thus previously difficult to locate. The article also serves to bring resources on Shaker art and material culture to a wider audience, since the special libraries devoted to Shaker collection do not have electronic catalogs, and are largely limited to on-site access.

Keywords: Artifacts; Communities; Culture (sociology); History; United States of America

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00907320510597444

Publication date: 2005-06-01