Winner of the 2005 National Humanities Medal, Leigh Keno is widely known in the antiques industry for his expertise. Alongside his twin brother, Leslie Keno, he has appeared on Antiques Roadshow consistently over the past two decades, co-written a book, and starred in television programs on various networks. Leigh Keno and his brother also maintain their own lifestyle brand, Keno Bros., and have a shared passion for collecting Shaker boxes.
Before the invention of Tupperware, flour, tea, and other household items were stored in lightweight pantry boxes. The usefulness of these boxes appealed to the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers, who emigrated from England to the US in 1774. However, the pantry boxes made in the past were often poorly constructed and others were too pretentious for Shakers. For this reason, they began constructing their own pantry boxes, later known as Shaker boxes, in the 18th century.
Dedicated to hard work and precision, the Shakers created oval boxes that were both beautiful and functional, without being ostentatious. Made by hand, these boxes were initially made from hand tools and during the second half of the 19th century, were created using circular saws. They were constructed from maple, likely because of the wood’s ability to become pliable when exposed to steam or hot water, and were uniform in size, with each size assigned a number. the oval top and bottom boards were usually made of white pine. The boxes eventually became popular outside of Shaker communities and soon became a regular “fancy work” item that Shakers made and sold to other people.
In the late 19th and first decades of the 20th centuries, Shaker membership and box construction declined. Delmar Wilson, one of the most prolific builders of Shaker boxes in the 20th century, made his last example around 1955. In general, surfaces were covered with a thinned paint, or wash of color, which included red, yellow, green and blue, until about 1850. After mid-century, most boxes were covered with a clear shellac.
Today, Shaker boxes are used as an accent item or decoration rather than as a pantry box. Some collectors strive to form stacks of boxes in graduated sizes. The market for shaker boxes has declined somewhat in recent years, in part due to the rarity of great examples in the marketplace. As Leigh Keno points out, " In general, boxes with well preserved paint- with blue being the most desirable color- sell for many times the price of an example which is merely shellacked."
