Desk and bookcase

Description

Amos Stewart, cabinetmaker and member of the Mt. Lebanon, New York Shaker community, made this fall-front desk in 1873. Stewart lived in the Mt. Lebanon community from 1811, when he was nine years old, until his death in 1884. In addition to working as a cabinetmaker, Stewart was at various times a machinist, inventor, and First Minister – the highest spiritual position in the Shaker Church. In 1865, Stewart – or “Elder Amos,” as he was called – lost his left hand in a planing machine accident which “instantly severed the entire hand from his wrist.” Stewart recovered from his injury, wore a prosthesis, and, despite being one-handed, continued to make furniture, including this butternut desk. The underside of the top drawer in the lower case is signed “Made 1873 by Amos Stewart.” The document signing Stewart and two of his siblings over to the care of Shaker Brother Nathan Kendal is held in the Andrews Shaker collection, cat. 751, Winterthur Library.