Easy chair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fully upholstered easy chair was introduced to the colonies in the early eighteenth century, with initial models emerging from Boston. As textiles were costly and upholstering required considerable labor, easy chairs were expensive and, accordingly, were found exclusively in wealthy homes. They were usually placed in the best bed chamber rather than the parlor, with upholstery fabric chosen to match the bed hangings.

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