Orleans Carpenters Shaker Boxes

“The Shakers began forming villages in America in the mid to late 1700’s. Shaker Oval Box making arose out of the Shaker villages at that time. All of the objects they made served a purpose. The function of an object was of paramount importance; its design simple. They did not make things that were merely nice to look at, each object had to have a useful purpose. The Shakers improved on the wooden “pantry box” design used at that time by adding the distinctive “swallowtail” joint. That improvement allowed for the expansion and contraction of the wood at the overlap without splitting. Shaker Oval Box Making is a true American craft. The oval box is widely recognized as quintessential “Shaker”, encompassing both simple form and clear function.

Orleans Carpenters was started in 1976 by Dick and Phoebe Soule as a carpenter’s shop with a focus on teaching troubled youths a trade. By 1978 our work consisted almost exclusively of Shaker inspired woodworking, particularly oval boxmaking. In 1986 we bought the business and began shifting the focus entirely toward box making. While many years have passed since we performed our last “carpentry” work, we have chosen to keep the name as an acknowledgment of our beginnings.”

Beth & Paul Dixon Orleans Carpenters Cape Cod, MA