Recently I re-read an old article on an amazing lady by the name of Nettie Covey Sharpe. She loved collecting early religious artifacts and Quebec folk art and furniture at a time when it was “pooh-pooed” by so-called savvy collectors. There’s a link at the bottom of this article for you to check out the house she lived in before everything was dismantled and the contents donated to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. I hope to have the chance to visit the museum myself some day.

 

This is an excerpt from the home page:

Upon her death in March 2002, Mrs. Sharpe left the house and its contents to our museum. You will be able to imagine our excitement on entering this ancestral home and discovering the treasures that she assembled and cherished over nearly half a century. You will also understand why we wanted to show this collection to the public as soon as possible, well before we finished researching it. This national treasure was bequeathed to us so that we could share it with the world. We have prepared this virtual tour as quickly as possible, even though that meant limiting the descriptions accompanying the illustrations.

This collection is now at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau where it will be the focus of a number of research and exhibition projects in the coming years.

Check it out for yourself: Canadian Museum of Civilization & Nettie Sharpe