Chest with drawers

Peter Blin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Typical of the so-called “sunflower” chests that were produced in the Wethersfield area of Connecticut, this example displays a striking combination of shallow-relief floral carving and applied decoration. The center front panel features the owner’s initials surrounded by a wreath of tulips—a variant of the standard motif of three sunflowers. The carving on the panels resembles patterns for sixteenth-century embroideries.

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