Shaker Red-painted Rack

Shaker Red-painted Rack, Mount Lebanon, New York, c. 1830, with eighteen openings, original surface, (imperfections), ht. 27 3/4, wd. 58, dp. 11 1/2 in. Literature: The Magazine Antiques , May 1979; Gather Up the Fragments , p. 185. This rack was acquired by the Andrewses from the South Family at Mount Lebanon. It was photographed by Noel Vincentini for The Index of American Design just inside a door of the South Family Dwelling in 1935 (see image at left). Barely visible in the image is a cupboard door on the upper left of the piece. This door has since disappeared. The rack is utilitarian in the extreme, and displays the clean lines and essential functionality so prized in Shaker craftsmanship. Vincentini may have placed the rack for his photograph; in the May 1979 issue of The Magazine Antiques it is stated that it was acquired from the North Family at Mount Lebanon. However, given the nearly forty years between the image and the article, a South Family origin seems more probable.