Rare painted maple and pine Shaker round box, attributed to Joseph Johnson (1781-1852) Canterbury, Merrimack County or Enfield, Grafton County, New Hampshire, circa 1851

Inscribed underside of box, pencil: To Pug, Eld Ida C.

Eldress Ida F. Crook, Canterbury, New Hampshire
Olive Hayden Austin, Clinton, Connecticut
A. Hayward Benning, Albany, New york
Willis Henry Auctions, Marshfield, Massachusetts, "Shaker Auction," August, 1989, lot 158
David A. Schorsch, New York, New York, 1990

"Folk Art Revealed," New York, American Folk Art Museum, November 16, 2004-August 23, 2009

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 312, fig. 273

Condition is very fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Although the oval box is more frequently encountered, Shaker craftsmen also created round boxes. This box is attributed to Joseph Johnson because of its closeness to two similar red-stained examples, both of which have contemporaneous presentation inscriptions and dates (1851 and 1852) relating them to this Shaker elder. June Sprigg has noted that the straight joints of these small round boxes are closer to the construction of wooden dippers-also staples of Shaker woodenware than to the swallowtail joints of oval boxes.¹

Johnson was a member of a family of gifted Believers; his father was the well-known Shaker master builder Moses Johnson, who was responsible for framing each of the gambrel-roofed meetinghouses in the northeastern Shaker communities in the late 18th century. Johnson himself was a Shaker leader, serving as senior elder in the New Hampshire ministry. The group of round boxes appears to have been made during the last year of his service as a member of the ministry, after which he retired to the Canterbury community. The box in this collection contains a presentation inscription from Eldress Ida F. Crook (1886-1965), a Canterbury Shaker who served in the ministry from 1960 until her death. -G.C.W.

¹ Sprigg, Shaker Design, p.111.