Easy Chair

Caleb Gardner Jr.

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Eighteenth-century easy chairs—heavily padded, with thick down-filled cushions, and with wings to rest one's head against and keep drafts away—were often reserved for the elderly or the infirm. This New England example is remarkable for its elaborate upholstery and intact condition. The front is covered with Irish stitch needlework and the back with a needlework landscape scene. The seams are covered with silk tape. The frame is inscribed " Made by Caleb Gardner Junr," presumably the upholsterer, and dated "New Port, May 23 1758."

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