October 2, 2023
SHELBURNE MUSUEM
6000 Shelburne Rd, Shelburne, VT 05482
“Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located on 45 acres near Lake Champlain.” - Wikipedia
I first heard about the Shelburne Museum by watching “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS last winter. Knowing I would be visiting Vermont I put the museum on my list of places to see and I was not disappointed. However, even with doing a little research, I had no idea what I was going to find when I got there.
Possibly the best description of the Shelburne is a “collection of collections.” There is American folk art, French Impressionist paintings, duck decoys, circus animals, dolls, and many, many other things. Each of the 39 buildings could be its own museum. The three hours I had planned to visit stretched into almost five hours, and I know I missed a couple buildings. There were too many highlights to describe here, but I will not forget my amazement walking into a room and seeing four Monet paintings that came from a personal art collection.
If you are ever in northwestern Vermont, you need to visit the Shelburne Museum.
Pizzagalli Center for Arts and Education
This building had two exhibits, the first of Native American pottery from New Mexico, and second an exhibit of toys that make children think.
As a child I got to play with an erector set of this vintage, handed down from my father.
Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building
Webb was the founder of the museum. Her children had this memorial building built to honor their mother. The rooms inside the building were replicas of rooms in Webb’s NYC apartment. The house was filled with antiques and an impressive collection of impressionist’s paintings.
The strange looking object coming out between the pillars is an art piece. It was also on display inside the house. I am a huge supporter of the arts, and really tried to be objective on this piece, but in the end I wish the piece hadn’t been there as I thought it ruined the beauty of the house.
Claude Monet
Claude Monet
I had never thought of silverware as art, but it definitely was here.
Tiffany
Edgar Degas
Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Webb Gallery
Painting a Nation: American Art at Shelburne Museum
Sawmill - Settlers’ House and Barn
Sawmill on right, Settlers' Home on left.
1787 up-and-down saw
1787 up-and-down saw
Barn on left, Settlers' Home on right
Settlers' Home
Barn
Dorset House
Wildfowl decoy collections.
Covered Bridge
Double-lane covered bridge with footpath, ca. 1845.
Dutton House and Tavern
Life in Vermont in the 1820s.
I loved the original hinges on many of the doors throughout the museum.
Game table in the "tavern."
Liquor License
Posted on the wall.
The bar area.
A tavern was also a hotel. The cheap beds were in a hallway and you didn't know who you might be sleeping next to (or with).
If you could afford it, a private room was available.
Furniture in the private part of the house.
The home was reportedly one of the first to have stoves instead of just fireplaces for heat and cooking.
The kitchen stove and fireplace.
Stagecoach Inn
Collection of folk art sculpture, trade signs, weathervanes, and more.
Textile Gallery - Toy Shop - Variety Unit
Collections of quilts, early toys, decorative arts, glassware, ceramics, dolls, and more.
Quilts
Hat and Bandboxes
Quilts
Miniature House
Miniature House
Sampler
Toy Circus
Matchbox Cars
Loved the pattern in this platter
Lafayette themed ceramics.
Glass canes
There were a dozen cabinets filled with goblets.
Loved this piece of glassware.
Large pitchers.
Whirl-a-gig
Whirl-a-gig
Doll house
Colorful botttles
Thought the glass in this window was cool.
Weaving Shop - Print Shop
The Weaving Shop
The Print Shop
Horseshoe Barn
So named because of its shape. It housed quite a collection of horse drawn vehicles.
The Horseshoe Barn
There was quite a collection of sleighs.
Loved the stagecoach because usually you only see Wells Fargo coaches, but there were other lines.
Vermont House Gallery
“Something Old, Something New: Continuity and Change in American Furniture and Decorative Arts”
Loved this art piece outside the Vermont House.
This is a one-of-a-kind dresser...the top has a piece of granite inlaid with names and dates of the family that owned the chest.
The top.
General Store and Apothecary Shop
Ticonderoga
220-foot sidewheel steamboat.
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
Icebox in the Kitchen
The crew's quarters.
The Purser's Office
Captain's quarters
Hallway
A State Room
Railroad Station
Bathtub on the railroad car.
Dining room on the railroad car.
State Room on the railroad car.
The bunk in the State Room
Collection of lanterns.
Circus Building and Carousel
Hand carved circus figures and carousel animals.
The Kirk Bros. Circus - a 3500-piece carved miniature three-ring circus with an audience. Carved by Edgar Decker Kirk.
Roy Arnold's hand-carved, 4000-piece circus parade, which spans nearly 500 feet.
Historical circus poster dotted the walls.
Circus chariots.
Maybe my favorite piece - the 40-horse hitch. As a teenager my family traveled to Milwaukee where an Iowan drove a 40-horse hitch in their annual circus parade.
Carousel horses
Carousel Horse
Carousel Tiger
Carousel Giraffes
Carousel Goat
Carousel
Round Barn
“Trailblazers: Horse-Powered Vehicles” - a collection of some very nice vehicles.
Horse-drawn snow plow
Popcorn wagon
Other Miscellaneous Buildings
School House
Inside the school house.
The Meeting House
Inside the Meeting House
The Pipe Organ in the Meeting House.
The Lighthouse