Chest with drawer

Robert Crosman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A single composition extends over the entire front of this chest, displaying the decorative style of Robert Crosman of Taunton, Massachusetts. About thirty pieces of similarly decorated furniture have been attributed to Crosman’s hand. The overall painted design, distinguished by the sweeping arcs of compass-drawn vines and the use of templates for tulips and birds, is very like the flowers and vines found on crewelwork bed hangings of the period.

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