Master of the Shaker box

 

Brent Rourke

 

Made from cherry wood with
copper rivets, this dory basket
is based on the design used for
hundreds of years by Atlantic
Canadian and New England
fishermen on their "dory boats".

 

Shaker Oval Boxes

Fascination with woodworking

My fascination with wood began over three decades ago in junior high school shop class. That's when I first discovered the pleasure of taking a shaving from a piece of pine with a freshly sharpened hand plane. My interest grew, and I went on to study cabinetmaking and woodworking at community college, later to become a master woodworker. I spent several years honing my skills working for others before becoming self employed in 1997.

I grew up in Hampton, a small New Brunswick town in Canada well known for its artists. In 2008, my wife of 22 years, Susan, two sons, Thomas and Benjamin, and I moved to the nearby rural community of Bloomfield. There, I converted a 107-year-old barn into an interactive, interpretive manufacturing and retail facility that is part of the New Brunswick Ecomuseum network. And now, in my spare time, I'm renovating our 1901 farmhouse.

When I went out on my own, I tried marketing several products; but the Shaker oval box became my signature piece. My interest in this unique piece began in the early 1980s after I saw a photo of a Shaker box. Most woodworkers will tell you they are always looking for something to challenge their talents and for me it was the Shaker box.

Originally designed as a dry goods storage container, these boxes are simple in their design while being functional and elegant, traditional and contemporary, all at the same time. Over the years, my company, now under the name The Barn in Bloomfield, has made more than 40,000 oval boxes. They are more than a wooden container and I am always trying to find more uses for them. I have had success selling them as urns, corporate gifts, and memory boxes.