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Shaker Gift Drawings - Page 2

© Suzanne Hill

The artists found inspiration for their drawings in scenes from their everyday lives: gardens, farms, gravestones, books, pottery, painted tin ware, samplers, embroidery, and quilts. Indeed many of the drawings assume Masonic imagery, the motifs of Pennsylvania Dutch symbols, the primitive look of Fraktur drawings, and the layout of appliqué quilts. The drawings will often use a symmetric layout, formatted in circles or in rows of squares, surrounded by borders. The artists mainly worked in ink and watercolor, using bold primary colors and flat, stylized drawing without shading or modeling.

The Artists

The women who created gift drawings were untrained artists who used objects from their day-to-day lives as models. They followed the rural traditions of American folk art in design and execution. There were several artists of significance. An example of the work of instrument Sarah Bates is the creation, “Wings of Holy Mother Wisdom, Wings of the Heavenly Father,” (see Fig. 2 - hold your cursor over each diagram to see the floating caption). The drawing, done in blue and brown ink, is filled with trees of life and devotional sayings in the typical symmetrical style. An example of Polly Reed’s work, “A Present from Mother Lucy to Eliza Ann Taylor,” (Fig. 3) is rife with Masonic imagery such as pillars and Solomon’s Temple, and Biblical imagery like birds, stars, and flowers in a decorative border with celestial overtones. Miranda Barber is represented here by the drawing, “From Holy Mother Wisdom. To Elder Ebenezer Bishop.” (Fig. 4) The work includes the words, “So, Come sit down in the Mansion of the blessed to go no more out.” Indeed, the drawing seems to depict a doorway that, through its entrance, leads to the ethereal objects laid out inside “the Mansion.”

Polly Collins is represented here by a detail from, “An Emblem of the Heavenly Sphere,” (Fig. 5) , a diagram of a family tree of Shaker saints. Hannah Cohoon was a prolific creator of visionary art. The examples here show her use of intriguing details and careful placement. In Fig. 6, “The Tree of Life” is embellished with embroidery-like details. In Fig. 7, “The Tree of Light or Blazing Tree” makes use of red flame-like markings to enhance the leaves, and effectively grounds the tree in a realistic earth mound.

Why Gift Drawings Are Significant

The Shaker gift drawings that have been discovered are truly exceptional finds – only 200 are known to be in circulation of all those, of unknown number, originally created. Most are unsigned; most are undated. Many show indecipherable lines, words, and objects that add to their mystery. Because Shaker conduct did not allow any superfluous decoration, art, or pictures to be hung on the wall, they were not referred to as “art.” They were illustrations of messages from the spirit world. It is difficult to know if these pictures were ever hung in public, to be enjoyed by a large audience, or merely put away as holy relics. It is commonly believed that to protect the sect from those who wouldn’t understand the meaning or significance of the drawings, they were kept private and ultimately tucked away and forgotten. This has led to their obscurity.

Fig. 1 Three Angel Heads	Fig. 2 - Sarah Bates	Fig. 3 - Polly Reed	Fig. 4 - Miranda Barber	Fig. 5 - Polly Collins
Fig. 6 - Hannah Cohoon "The Tree of Life"

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