Marble-slab table

Marble-slab table

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This table was made for the Philadelphia merchant Benjamin Marshall (1737–1778) at the time of his marriage, in 1761, to Sarah Lynn (1739–1797). Marble-slab tables were used for serving beverages and hot foods. The skirt of this example is finished on only three sides, since the back of the table faced the wall.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.