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Shaker Museum

Platform

Chair platform used with electrostatic machine, North Family, Mount Lebanon, NY

Object ID:
2008.15.1
Community:
New York, Mount Lebanon
Description

White pine board carriage bolted to cleats at either end which house four glass bottle necks which serve as insulating feet to prevent grounding when using electrostatic device. In front is a white pine board screwed to top of platform that had some sort of covering (probably leather over paper) tacked in center.

Notes

The platform can be seen in a HABS photograph taken in the attic of the North Family Wash House by William Winter in the 1920s: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ny0109.photos.115497p/. The photograph shows that the platform originally had a fifth foot under the section where the sitter's feet would have rested, but that foot has since been lost.

New York Mount Lebanon North Family

New York Mount Lebanon North Family

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Copyright of this artwork Citation rules

Citation rules

Shaker Museum Platform. https://shakermuseum.us/object/?id=20137. Accessed on April 16, 2024

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Shane Rothe

Curatorial Associate

Shane Rothe (they/them) joined Shaker Museum in July 2023, working with independent curator Maggie Taft on an exhibition for the new museum space in Chatham. Shane is an artist as well as a curator and continues to create in the mediums of painting, sculpture, writing, and performance. Shane holds a BFA from CalArts and an MA in art history and curatorial studies from the University of Chicago.