For almost thirty years, Bob and Norma Noe of Lancaster, Kentucky, hunted down great Kentucky art and antiques. Their devotion to acquiring, preserving, and documenting the commonwealth’s artistic heritage produced one of the state’s finest collections of early Kentucky furniture, paintings, ceramics, textiles, and silver. The exhibition, Kentucky Antiques from the Noe Collection: A Gift to the Commonwealth, features over sixty pieces from the Noes’ collection.

Organized geographically, the objects illustrate the great diversity of artists and artisans that influenced the lives of Kentuckians from 1800 to 1900. Paintings and works on paper depict many individuals who shaped the state’s history, such as Daniel Boone, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Clay. Pieces from the Noes’ extraordinary collection of early Kentucky furniture range from richly inlaid sugar chests, corner cupboards, and bureaus to simple Windsor chairs. Stoneware, silver, and samplers—made everywhere from Maysville to Louisville—round out the exhibition.