Parlor from the James Duncan Jr. house, Haverhill, Massachusetts

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Haverhill Room is the formal parlor (now furnished as a bedroom) from a house that originally belonged to James Duncan Jr. (1756–1822). Duncan was a merchant living in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a town thirty miles north of Boston. He grew wealthy as a partner in the shipping and mercantile business begun by his father, James Duncan Sr. (1726–1818). Financial success allowed Duncan to build an elegant house in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Its interior represents the neoclassical style of architecture that prevailed during the early 1800s and provides an appropriate backdrop for the American Wing’s strong collection of New England furniture from this era.

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