Chair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the early nineteenth century, no form of ancient furniture was imitated as successfully as the Greek klismos. Known through its depiction on Greek vases and fragments of relief-carved marbles, the chair is distinguished by its spare, elegant lines and sweeping, curved rear stiles surmounted by a broad, deeply curved tablet. Reflecting on the perfection of Greek works of art in 1812, the British furniture designer George Smith wrote that every attention “was evidently given to produce a flowing and correct outline; and so to arrange the parts in masses, that the whole should appear clear and distinct . . . and it is this happy relief, this rejection of little parts, that gives their works so chaste and pleasing an effect.” At their best, nineteenth century American klismos chairs strive for such perfection.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art