Last updated on August 3rd, 2015 at 03:18 pm

Vermont’s premier arts & history venue, the Shelburne Museum is unveiling it’s newest exhibit today,  Rich and Tasty: Vermont Furniture to 1850.  Frequent readers, customers and visitors to Stonehurst are well aware of Vermont’s current reputation as the Fine Furniture Capital of America.  Now you can learn about the history of Vermont made furniture and see the incredible craftsmanship that VT woodworkers began developing as far back as the 1700s.

The Rich and Tasty exhibit “dramatically expands popular understanding of Vermont high style furniture. It reveals the exquisite craftsmanship of individual forms and encourages a wide audience to learn about regional tastes and economics that help define Vermont furniture’s stylistic features and unexpected aesthetic innovations in the early decades of the nineteenth century.  Approximately 40 documented pieces will be displayed, the majority of which have never been on view before. In addition to showcasing pieces from Shelburne Museum’s extensive permanent collection, public and private collections contributing pieces in the Northeast will include: the Vermont Historical Society, the Collection of the Woodstock Historical Society, Fleming Museum of Art, The University of Vermont, Historic Deerfield, Inc., the Collection of J. Brooks Buxton, the Collection of Norman and Mary Gronning, the Collection of the Fowler Family, and other private collections.”

Some of the furniture in the exhibit was recently sold at a Skinner auction in Marlborough, Mass.  Pieces ranged in price from a few thousand dollars for a mahogany sofa to $65,175 for a maple, mahogany and birch dresser.  We’ll be checking those out today and look forward to sharing more details and photos with you.

If you’re in the Burlington area, stop by the Museum.   It’s a beautiful place set on 45 acres along Lake Champlain.  You can easily spend the whole day browsing through their 150,000 works which are displayed in 38 buildings, 25 of which are historic.  In addition to Rich and Tasty, you’ll find great concurrent exhibits including:

• The Unknown Rockwell: A Portrait Of Two American Families.  This includes personal memoirs of James “Buddy” Edgerton, Norman Rockwell’s neighbor in West Arlington, Vermont, for 14 years, and a frequent Rockwell model, as well as best friend with the Rockwell sons.
• American Moderns, 1910-1960: From Okeeffe to Rockwell.  50 artworks from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection in a variety of styles that explore the depth and range of specifically American and thoroughly modern art. 

I hope to see you there, in the new Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education where Vermont’s furniture making history will be on display until Nov 11.  Take some photos and share them on our Facebook!