The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Muller, Charles R.                                          

Title:               Charles R. Muller papers

Dates:             1973-2002, bulk 1973-1985

Call No.:         Col. 800

Acc. No.:        07x1

Quantity:        3 boxes, 1 folder (0.8 cu.ft.)

Location:        18 L 6, map case 3, drawer 3

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Charles R. Muller has written a number of articles about Shakers, their artifacts, and their communities.  A compilation of his articles was published as The Shaker Way (1979).  With Timothy D. Rieman, Muller wrote a well-received book entitled The Shaker Chair (published 1984).  He was a Methodist minister in Ohio for some years, but his interest in antiques led him to the editorship of Ohio Antique Review.  In 2002, his book Soap Hollow: The Furniture and Its Makers was published

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Notes and photographs, principally related to Charles Muller’s research for the book The Shaker Chair, but concerned with other Shaker-related topics as well.  Muller’s and Timothy Rieman’s book about Shaker chairs was published in 1984.  In the 1970s and 1980s, Muller attended seminars about the Shakers, first sponsored by Elmira College and then by Berkshire Community College in Massachusetts.  In the 1970s, he was involved with an effort, apparently futile, to preserve a Shaker building in Ohio which was called Rose Cottage.  Muller also collected catalogs from businesses which reproduced Shaker furniture, baskets, and other items.  Also includes two copies of a poster to accompany the book The Shaker Chair.

 

A later addition to the papers are photographs, chiefly in color, used in Muller’s book Soap Hollow: The Furniture and Its Makers.  Only the photos are found, no notes gathered during the research of this book.  Soap Hollow is in Conemaugh township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and is about 7 miles from Johnstown, Penn. 

           

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The papers are in two series; Series I is for the Shaker research papers, and Series II is for the photographs of Soap Hollow furniture.  In Series I, the folders are in alphabetical order by title.  In Series II, the photos are in page number order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Gift of Charles R. Muller.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            Shaker chairs.

            Shaker furniture.

            Shakers.

            Furniture – Pennsylvania – Somerset County.

            Photographs.

            Research notes.

           

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 18 L 6, map case 3, drawer 3

 

 

Series I: Shaker research papers

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:          Articles about Shakers and Shaker villages

 

Folders 2-4:     Chair book (publishing information, etc.)      

 

Folder 5:          Chairs: bibliographical material

 

Folder 6:          Chairs: correspondence

 

Folder 7:          Chairs: style, design

 

Folder 8:          Chairs: Canterbury, N.H.

 

Folder 9:          Chairs: Enfield, Conn.

 

Folder 10:        Chairs: Enfield, N.H.

 

Folder 11:        Chairs: Harvard, Mass.

 

Folder 12:        Chairs: Maine (Alfred and Sabbathday Lake)

 

Folder 13-14:  Chairs: New Lebanon, N.Y.

 

 

Box 2:

 

Folder 1:          Chairs: Ohio

 

Folder 2:          Chairs: Pleasant Hill, Ky.

 

Folder 3:          Chairs: South Union, Ky.

 

Folder 4:          Chairs: Watervliet, N.Y.

 

Folder 5:          Chairs: Watervliet, N.Y.: Freegift Wells

 

Folder 6:          Correspondence

 

Folder 7:          photographs and negatives of Shaker furniture (chiefly for children)

 

Folder 8:          Rose Cottage Committee

 

Folder 9:          Seminars, 1975-1980

 

Folder 10:        Seminar, 1981 (Pleasant Hill, Ky.)

 

Folder 11:        Seminar, 1982 (Enfield, N.H.)

 

Folder 12:        Seminar, 1983 (South Union, Ky.)

 

Folder 13:        Seminar, 1984 (Mt. Lebanon, N.Y.)

 

Folder 14:        Seminar, 1985 (Sabbathday Lake, Maine)

 

Folder 15:        Seminar, 1986 (Ohio, Kentucky)

 

Folder 16:        Shaker bibliographies

 

Folder 17:        Shaker communities and museums

 

 

Box 3:

 

Folder 1:          Shaker furniture article by Muller for Art & Antiques

 

Folder 2:          Shaker information

 

Folder 3:          Shaker for sale: furniture, books, etc.

 

Folder 4:          Shaker reproductions

 

 

Oversize folder in map case:

 

Poster: “The Shaker Chair,” drawings by Steven Metzger; printed to accompany the book The Shaker Chair

 

 

 

Series II: Soap Hollow furniture photographs

 

Box 3:

 

Folders 5-8:     Photographs, pp. 0-29, 30-52, 53-78, 79-85