The Collection

Dining Room in the Alice T. Miner Museum

The Alice’s thirteen rooms hold furniture, decorative arts, and artifacts from around the world. Explore the links below to learn more about the collection.

Detail of the back of an early American painted "fancy chair"

Furniture

Alice collected dozens of chairs, tables, sofas, beds, dressers, and other pieces of furniture needed to turn the museum into a true representation of a “colonial home.” The pieces range from simple and sturdy Windsor rockers to examples of high-style craftsmanship like the Queen Anne high chest in the Weaving Room. Like many of her […]

Pieces of blue and white transfer printed ceramics, featuring a jug with a portrait of Lafayette

Ceramics

For many visitors, the highlight of the museum is the third-floor ballroom, which holds more than 600 pieces of ceramics and glass. This was where Alice’s collection began; like many middle- and upper-class American women, she was caught by the china-collecting craze at the turn of the 20th century. She was undoubtedly influenced by her […]

Hupa basket with geometric pattern of triangles

Baskets

The baskets in the collection are Klickitat, Hupa and Yurok-Karok in origin, made in California, Oregon, and Washington states. Alice most likely purchased them during several trips to the west coast she made in the early 1900s. The Yurok-Karok and Hupa baskets are similar to each other and were likely made by related peoples in […]

Detail of a crazy quilt with an embroidered patch

Textiles

An avid needleworker herself, Alice clearly had a great fondness for the quilts, coverlets, samplers, rugs, and other textiles produced by early American women. In the early 20th century, such pieces were just beginning to be appreciated by collectors and reevaluated as art, worthy of exhibition alongside fine furniture, silver, and porcelain. In addition to […]

Row of books on a shelf with a porcelain figurine

Books and Manuscripts

The books in the Alice’s collection range from very early examples of printing (including a Bible from 1526) to novels by now-forgotten authors of the early 20th century. Many of these volumes were originally part of Alice and William Miner’s personal library at Heart’s Delight Farm—Shakespeare, Thackeray, Scott, Eliot, and other classic authors are represented. […]

And More

“More” covers a dizzying variety of objects: clocks, fans, lamps, silhouettes, coins, medals, armaments, clothing, tools, and some true “curiosities.” No matter what you are interested in, you are practically guaranteed to find an example somewhere at the Alice! Image at top: Squirrel stopper, glass cordial set, ca. 1870 Back: Books and Manuscripts | Up: […]