Join us on Sunday, July 10 for the opening of Rokeby Museum’s 2016 exhibit – Quaker Made: Vermont Furniture, 1820-1835 – with a curator-led gallery talk at 3 pm. The talk is free with Museum admission.
Quaker cabinetmaker Stephen Foster Stevens produced furniture from his Monkton, Vermont shop for fourteen years. Several pieces made their way into the collection at Rokeby Museum and are exhibited here for the first time along with account books, diaries, documents, photographs, and other personal items.
Born to Quaker parents and trained by another Friend, Stevens turned out ordinary and utilitarian furniture for his neighbors, many of whom were also Quakers. His work, however, showed great talent and expert workmanship, suggesting that he could have pursued a more lucrative career making fine furniture elsewhere.
Instead, Stevens’s life as a Friend influenced the pieces he produced. Quakers lived under the testimony of simplicity at this time and were expected to remain “plain” in their speech, clothing, furniture, and deportment. Quaker Made presents an intimate look into the meaning of plainness for Friends.
Don't worry if you can't make it to the opening, Quaker Made will be on view through October 30, 2016.
Oct 13, 2024, 4 to 5 PM
Shelburne Luncheon Oct. 15Oct 15, 2024, 11:30 AM
Casino Night!Oct 19, 2024, 6 to 9 PM