“Quebec Country Furniture,” Shelburne Museum’s first exhibition dedicated to furniture from Quebec, will be open June 11-October 31. Showing about 25 pieces dating from the Seventeenth through the Nineteenth Century. They are distinctive for their colorful surfaces, exuberant designs and unusual forms. Recent scholarship determined that Shelburne is home to the largest US museum collection of furniture from Quebec.

In studying Shelburne’s furniture collection, decorative arts curator Jean Burks identified strong similarities in the forms and painted surfaces of a group about which the museum had little information. After further research, she concluded they were of Quebec origin and in 2004 invited the furniture curator from the McCord Museum in Montreal to Shelburne. Burks’ findings were supported and 35 pieces were identified as being from Quebec.

The collection includes chairs, tables, beds, cupboards and doors. Highlights include a pair of armoire doors made around 1800 and a graceful armchair a la capucine (from a convent) made 1780-1820. The exhibition will feature traditional pieces such as the 1750-1800 open backed Ile d’Orleans chair, an example of a style popular in Quebec City area beginning in the early Eighteenth Century.

Shelburne Museum is open through October 31, 10 am to 5 pm daily. For information, 802-985-3346.