Joint stool

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Because joint stools were subject to hard useage, relatively few have survived. Most--like this example-were imported from Europe. Makers left their individual imprint through distinctive patterning on the legs.

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