Desk and bookcase

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The verre églomisé panels—reverse paintings on glass—on the front of this desk depict Faith, Moses, and an unidentified male figure, above, and Temperance and Justice on the doors. Most Americans in this period were well versed in the meaning of allegorical figures such as these. The desk originally belonged to Dr. Edward Harris of Queen Anne’s County, Maryland.

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