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Publications
by Charles Muller
SOAP HOLLOW FURNITURE
Soap Hollow: The Furniture and its Makers is the result of more
than 20 years of study. Soap Hollow is a 3-mile-long valley just south
of Johnstown, Pa., where the Amish-Mennonite craftsmen produced a distinctive
group of stencil-decorated furniture from 1836 to 1924. The author inventoried
290 pieces – including 71 bearing the names of 11 makers.
"In this landmark catalogue raisonne Chuck illuminates a very colorful legacy so
that we are able to distinguish the pieces and their makers from similar examples
and documents an important heretofore neglected area. This fanciful an styled
decoration by the Soap Hollow cabinetmakers is another contribution to the genre
known as American folk art. This catalogue provides us with valuable information
and Chuck is to be congratulated on his diligent efforts and comprehensive contribution
to another chapter in the history of Pennsylvania furniture makers. Soap Hollow
furniture can now take its place alongside the many identified and established
categories of made-in-American furniture."
-- Helaine and Burton Fendelman in the Foreword
"When a full survey of early American Mennonite material culture is complete, and proper
cultural analysis is applied to it, Muller’s book will stand as a crucial document"
 -- Ervin Beck, The Mennonite Quarterly Review
95 pages, 180 colored photographs.
$35 + 1.92 postage
THE SHAKER CHAIR
The Shaker Chair, 264 pages, is the definitive study of this subject. Tim Rieman and Charles
Muller examined Shaker chairs, studied the journals and manuscripts and expressed what determines
a Shaker chair. The authors considered the history and peculiar characteristics of the
chairs and present the material by community and chronologically. An appendix
considers "The Imitators – Non-Shaker Chairs." Stephen Metzger added concise
drawings enhancing the definition of the chairs.
Originally published in hardcover by the authors under The Canal Press name, The
Shaker Chair was reprinted in paperback by the University of Massachusetts
Press. Last year Schiffer Publishing Ltd. picked up the production of the book. At
that time the authors had the opportunity to make revisions but chose not to because
nothing significant had been added to the knowledge of Shaker chairs since the 1984
printing. After 20 years, this book has withstood the test of time as the source
for information about Shaker chairs.
We recently discovered several boxes of the original hardcover editor of The Shaker
Chair which were shipped without the wall chart of line drawings. These are available
for $65 each. They include eight pages of color.
The wonderful wall chart of the line drawings made by Stephen Metzger graphically
define the chairs by communities. Several of these that were never folded and
inserted into the books are available for $12 + 3.95 shipping.
The recently published Schiffer paperback edition without color and chart is $25 + $2.50 shipping.
THE SHAKER WAY
The Shaker Way was a monthly column written for the Ohio Antique Review. The
first 40 articles of the column were published as a book in 1979 to coincide with
the initiation of The Fall Antiques Show, under the sponsorship of the Museum of
American Folk Art. While some of the information has been replaced with more recent
scholarship, there is much in this book that is not available anywhere else. For
example, articles on "Union Village Chests of Drawers," "Pottery," "Influence on
Danish," "Stoves," "How Do You Know It’s Shaker" and "The Collection of the Ohio
Historical Society." There are also several articles about various Shaker sites
and auctions from the late 1970s.
"Charles Muller’s series, "The Shaker Way," substantially extends the primary research
of Nordhoff, the Andrewses, and Meader, for he has delved into many new areas of
research and has focused especially upon the arts and crafts of the Midwestern Shaker
communities which had never before been as extensively research. "The Shaker Way," in
it diversity and in its rich wealth of information, is an absolute necessity for anyone
interest in Shaker studies."
- Dr. Robert Bishop, director Museum of American Folk Art
We still have several copies of this book available which we found when closing
the (Ohio) Antique Review office. We can guarantee you the cover will come off
(poor glue) but will also guarantee the information in The Shaker Way is well
worth the price.
$6 + 1.92 shipping
All books are available from Charles Muller, Box 113, Groveport, OH 43125
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