“Crown of Thorns” chest of drawers, late 1800s
Unknown maker
VMHC Collection

So-called tramp art was popular across the U.S. from the 1870s to the 1930s. In this art form, the maker embellishes an object—such as a frame, box, or furniture—with chips notched out of a piece of wood and arranged into decorative designs. This spectacular example is encrusted with interlocking chips in a lattice-like pattern known as “crown of thorns” for its prickly appearance.

Quilt, about 1890–1900
Rena Effinger Coyner Koiner (1869–1949)
Cotton fabrics
VMHC Collection, Gift of Dennis and Kay Stockdale

Rena Koiner, the maker of this quilt, was part of an extensive family descended from German immigrants who settled in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1790s. She and her husband, Charles, ran a large, prosperous farm in Augusta County. Stitched entirely by hand, this quilt demonstrates her needleworking skills and her aesthetic sensibility in arranging colors and patterns. 

Cooler for water or beer, 1856
George N. Fulton (1834–1894) for David Parr’s Pottery, Richmond, Virginia
On long-term loan from The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, WV 

Before establishing his own successful pottery business in the Shenandoah Valley, George Fulton was a journeyman potter. At age 21, he secured a job at a Richmond pottery where he made this cooler—the earliest known example of his work. 

Desk, 1817
John Shearer (about 1760–after 1818)
VMHC Collection, Gift of The Children of Louis and Harriett Waldrop 

John Shearer, a Scottish immigrant, was one of the most skilled furniture makers working around 1800 in the Shenandoah Valley, then Virginia’s backcountry. He made this desk for Alfred Belt (1788–1872), a doctor and planter in Loudoun County, and his wife.  

Chest of drawers, about 1914
William L. Hedgbeth, Sr. (1882–1966)
VMHC Collection, Gift of Llewellyn H. Hedgbeth in memory of her grandfather William L. Hedgbeth 

William Hedgbeth of Norfolk made this child-sized chest of drawers for his daughter Martha (1907–1988), the eldest of his four children. One can imagine the love he poured into his handiwork—embellishing the item with carved geometric designs—and the delight Martha took in using this customized piece.

Portrait of Teresa Blount, about 1710–20s
Unknown artist
VMHC Collection 

Traditionally, portraits contain clues to a sitter’s social identity. This image depicts Teresa Blount (1688–1759), an English socialite and friend and muse of the poet Alexander Pope (1688–1744). She holds sheet music and sits at a spinet, a type of small harpsichord—items symbolizing her genteel status and musical talents. 

On November 8, 2023, award-winning author Edward Ayers delivered a lecture about his book, American Visions: The United States, 1800–1860. 

The early decades of the nineteenth century saw the expansion of slavery, Native dispossession, and wars with Canada and Mexico. Mass immigration and powerful religious movements sent tremors through American society. But even as the powerful defended the status quo, others defied it: voices from the margins moved the center; eccentric visions altered the accepted wisdom, and acts of empathy questioned self-interest.