Connoisseurs of Vermont antiques have long sought to dispel notions that the furniture is rustic, and that the makers were eccentrics living on the edges of the wilderness. In the last few decades, historians and collectors have unearthed evidence that the state’s early woodworkers, even those farming in remote spots, kept up with trends in design, materials and tools. An exhibition surveying these sophisticated pieces, “Rich and Tasty: Vermont Furniture to 1850,” opens on July 25 at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
