Gentleman’s secretary

Gentleman’s secretary

Nehemiah Adams

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of only about a dozen known examples attributed to Nehemiah Adams, this piece shows great unity of design, achieved through the rhythmic use of ellipses—a favorite Neoclassical shape—in the panels of the cabinet base. The ellipses are echoed in the muntins (the strips dividing the individual panes of glass) of the glazed upper bookcase doors. The form of this gentleman's secretary-and-bookcase is derived from plate 52 of Thomas Sheraton's "The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book" (London, 1793).

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.