Easy Chair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the eighteenth century, easy chairs (often called “wing chairs” today) were usually found in bedrooms for the use of the aged or infirm. Thick padding and soft down cushions provided comfort, and the wings gave protection from drafts. This example, with its curved front seat rail and flared arms terminating in C-scrolls, exhibits the classic Philadelphia form.

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