Kindred Spirits: The Eloquence of Function in American Shaker and Japanese Arts of Daily Life

168 pages. 100 color photographs. Foreword by Martha Longenecker, Director. Prologue by Shaker Scholar June Sprigg. Commentary by William Thrasher, Guest Curator.

From our previous exhibition,KINDRED SPIRTIS -- The Eloquence of Function in American Shaker and Japanese Arts of Daily Life. Guest-curated by William Thrasher. This exhibition was based on a major loan from Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Other objects in the exhibition were from The Art Complex Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The Fruitlands Museums, Kitamaesen Museum and the Kaga City Board of Education, Mingei International Museum, Mingeikan, Tokyo, The Peabody Essex Museum, The Western Reserve Historical Society and Library and private collections.

This exhibition revealed the extraordinary similarities within two contrasting cultures. They share standards of excellence in making objects for daily use, resulting from skilled and sensitive use of natural materials, and a reverence for the work of human hands. Kindred Spirits brought together for the first time a broad spectrum of American Shaker and Japanese crafts representing rich regional traditions. The exhibition featured approximately 200 of the finest objects used in American Shaker and Japanese daily life -- furniture, textiles, baskets, tools, and domestic utensils made of wood, metal, paper, lacquer, and natural fibers.