BETHEL — On the second floor of the Robinson House in the Huntoon Barn are textiles and furniture that are now part of an exhibit at The Museums of the Bethel Historical Society.

Historical Society Vice President Donna Gillis, Melinda Remington, Carina Walter, Historical Society President Karen Bean, and Amy Chapman set up the new exhibit called, “Treasures from the Collection: Art and Crafts through the Ages.”

The exhibit rooms are a porch, a dressing room, a living room, a child’s room and a kitchen. In the center of the space,  “it will look like a ballroom with these great gorgeous gowns hanging,” said Gillis.

In the dressing room they have textiles like a buffalo coat and an afternoon tea dress. Two wool men’s bathing suits are on display, too.

Ambassador Margaret Joy Tibbetts’ polar bear rug was in a box in storage and now is part of the exhibit. It was in her Oslo, Norway office when she was ambassador. A 1965 photograph shows her nephews playing on it.

A chair in the exhibit is from the Bethel Chair Factory that was at Lincoln and Cross Streets.  Addie Bryant Farwell was Amy Chapman’s great grandmother. Farwell’s daughter, Sara, worked at the chair factory and made chair cushions. She brought home scraps, that her mother sewed into a quilt, now part of the collection and the exhibit.

Many of the paintings are by local artists. Walter Clark’s 1949 self portrait is on loan. Two other paintings by Clark are in the exhibit, also. He was a member of the famed ski troops of the 10th Mountain Division that helped defeat the German forces in Italy in 1944. There are a half dozen or more paintings by Newry artist, Helen Morton, too.

Estelle Bean won first place in the Grange Fair in West Bethel. Her beautifully preserved quilt from 1912 is on display.

Some of the art is contemporary like the pottery in the kitchen exhibit by Melody Bonnema and Martha Grover. In the living room is Joshua Rysted’s ceramic knitting bowl.

The exhibit began July 1 and will end Labor Day weekend.

The exhibit is open from 1 – 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday or by appointment at the Moses Mason House, 14 Broad Street, Bethel.