Secretary and bookcase

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The combined desk and bookcase, with a fitted secretary drawer, the front of which drops down to provide a writing surface, offered an efficient means of conducting correspondence, managing household accounts, and storing a family’s books. Because they were a symbol of education and literacy, secretary bookcases were sometimes located in public rooms such as parlors or entry halls, where they could be on full display for visitors.

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