Elder Micajah Tucker

In 1834, Elder Micajah Tucker (1764-1848) of the Canterbury, New Hampshire, Shaker community, decided to retire the long benches used in the communal dining room and create individual spindle-back dining chairs. The design of Elder Micajah’s Dining Chairs is emblematic of Shaker ingenuity. Comprised of concave crest rails, spindles, shaped seats, and turned legs, the low backs of Brother Micajah’s dining chairs were designed to fit discreetly under a Shaker dining table to facilitate cleaning, setup, and storage. ¶ A rare and sought-after Shaker design, it is presumed that only 80-90 of these chairs were ever made. This set of four Dining Chairs is crafted from birch and pine, retaining their original red stain and varnish surface. On the undersides of the seats are Shaker markings in red paint: the numbers “2,” “18,” and “12.” Influenced by the Windsor plank-bottom chair, Elder Micajah’s chairs have boldly beveled seats and strongly canted legs—an icon within the canon of classic Shaker forms.

Materials: pine.