PORTLAND — This fall, the Portland Museum of Art will present an exhibition of the most significant collection of Shaker objects. “Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection” tells the story of the first and most avid collectors of Shaker art, Edward Deming Andrews and his wife, Faith Young Andrews.

The exhibition features more than 200 pieces of Shaker furniture, printed works, visual art, tools, textiles and small craft collected over four decades. The most comprehensive collection of Shaker materials ever assembled, the exhibition will provide insight into the Andrews’ complex role as pioneers in the field of Shaker studies.

“Gather Up the Fragments’ will be on view from Oct. 27 through Feb. 5, 2012.

The exhibition, organized by the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass., examines the full scope of the Andrews’ involvement with Shakerism — as scholars, collectors and dealers. From the 1920s through the 1960s, the Andrews actively pursued Shaker objects, collecting mainly from the Shakers themselves at a time when Shaker artifacts were not considered serious art.

The collection became the lifetime passion of the Andrews who were struck by the beauty of the objects in a Shaker kitchen they chanced to visit in 1923.

The couple produced numerous pioneering publications that examined many facets of Shaker life and, in effect, launched the field of Shaker studies.

Edward Andrews died in 1964; Faith Andrews died in 1990 in Pittsfield, Mass., where she was born.

“Gather Up the Fragments” showcases the work of Shaker communities in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire; and includes loans from private collections. Specific objects, particularly those whose acquisition was documented by Faith Andrews in her book, “Fruits of the Shaker Tree of Life,” will be exhibited in the context of their addition to the Andrews Collection.

“Gather Up the Fragments” is accompanied by a 400-page, full-color book published by Yale University Press and authored by Mario S. DePillis, professor emeritus of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, and Christian Goodwillie, curator of collections at the Hancock Shaker Village. The book is the first to document the Andrews’ collection, presenting some 600 photographs, most never before published.

The PMA is located at Seven Congress Square in the downtown. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. The museum is open free of charge 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students with I.D., $4 for youth ages 6 to 17; children under 6 are free. For more information, call 775-6148 or visit portlandmuseum.org.

Spool rack, Mount Lebanon, N.Y., circa 1870; from Andrews Collection, Hancock Shaker Village

Rocking chair, Mount Lebanon, N.Y., circa 1875; from Andrews Collection, Hancock Shaker Village