Simple, fragile, beautiful: an original 19th century red stencil print with delicate filigree design, presumably for a package or display of cherries.  Provenance: Likely Catherine Hall (Harvard Commune, 1813-1890, contained in a manuscript Shaker notebook ca. 1880); Raymond Adams (1898-1987, noted Thoreau scholar and collector, founder of the Thoreau Society); by descent. 5.75 x 1.4 inches. Irregularly trimmed, slight toning along left edge, else fine. 

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Shaker food was the same as that of all American pioneers, but ultimately it rose above mere survival to enrich the rest of the country with seeds that they raised, packaged and sold; produce that they improved; the best fruit from trees that the communities developed. They were pioneers in developing the canning process to put up what they couldn't eat, and they turned their herbs into helpful medicines as well as dried them for the kitchen. In time, the Shakers became famous for their quality and integrity.

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, known more widely as the Shakers, are a Christian sect founded in England during the mid-1700s.  The name "Shaker" comes from "Shaking Quakers," an insult coined to mock the way Shakers use their bodies during worship, whether shaking, shouting, dancing, whirling, or speaking in tongues.  The movement peaked in the 19th century, with 18 major communities as well as numerous smaller ones throughout the United States. Towards the end of the 19th century, the movement tapered out, as members died off and new converts slowed.  Shakers practice celibacy, which undoubtedly did not help matters.  Only one active Shaker community still exists in the United States, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine.  As of 2021, the village had three members.