Size #5 Shaker Oval Stitchers Tray — February 1854 Gleason’s Pictorial Farm Scene — Red Milk Paint

This Shaker-inspired oval stitchers tray in a red milk paint finish, with a paper-lined interior, measures 10″ Long × 6 ¾″ Wide × 1 ½″ High.

The interior is lined with an original page from Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, a Boston illustrated weekly published in the 1850s. This page is dated 1854, and the scene for February is wood-hauling through a snowy woodlot, a team of oxen dragging logs while figures in heavy cold-weather clothing work in the snow.

A note on the date: Gleason’s ran this monthly farm series on its own schedule, and the masthead date on a given copy can read a month later than the scene it shows. That is the original publication’s timing, not a mix-up in how the tray was paired.

Because these are genuine antique papers, you may notice small imperfections — light staining, color variation, or a tiny tear that has been set down and sealed. They are part of the character of the piece. The page is sealed with a protective coating, so the tray stands up to everyday use while the paper stays protected.

A Size #5 oval tray is one of the handiest sizes I make. Plenty of needleworkers keep one beside the chair for the tools of a project in progress — scissors, a thimble, a small pincushion, the thread in hand — and the paper underneath becomes something the eye keeps coming back to over a long evening of stitching. It is just as at home on a desk or shelf, holding small keepsakes or everyday odds and ends.

Construction:

• Materials: The side of the tray is constructed from maple or birch and the bottom board from quarter-sawn pine. All lumber is milled at our shop here in Embden, Maine.
• Hand-Cut Joints: The swallowtail joint is individually hand-cut by Robert LeHay, ensuring each piece is unique.
• Fasteners: The band and bottom board are secured with copper tacks made on original 19th-century machines.
• Finish: The milk paint is sealed with two coats of a high-quality tung oil finish, ensuring the tray is well protected and that the finish will only get better with age.
• Aged Appearance: Copper tacks are darkened to provide a vintage look. Following tradition, the bottom of the tray is left unpainted, then dyed and oiled to provide an aged patina.

Since 1993, LeHay’s Shaker Boxes has been making boxes and carriers in the Shaker tradition. While mass-produced, machine-made items have replaced many traditional products, nothing can replace the individuality of an item created by hand using locally sourced materials. We sincerely appreciate your interest in our work!