High Chest of Drawers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The high chest of drawers was introduced to the colonies in the 1690s and became the primary form of case furniture in the William and Mary style. This imposing piece, with its bold, fluted pilasters on the front and sides and dramatic projections in the entablature at the top and mid-moldings, was strongly influenced by classical architecture as set forth in the books of Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) and introduced in England by the architect Inigo Jones (1573-1652). It may have belonged to Edward Holyoke (b. 1689), who served as president of Harvard College from 1737 to 1769.

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