Splat-back armchair

Splat-back armchair

John Gaines III

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the design and construction of this armchair, the incline of the back, relaxed slope of the arms, and forward pull of the powerful ram’s-horn handgrips are in perfect balance. The scrolls, foliate carvings, and piercing of the crest rail and the extended length and breadth of the outward-sweeping carved feet are design elements associated with John Gaines III. Trained by his father, a turner and chairmaker in Ipswich, Massachusetts, Gaines moved in 1724 to Portsmouth, where his shop remained active until 1745.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.