
Slipper Chair
John Henry Belter
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The fanciful exuberance of this slipper chair attests to the artistic and technical skills of John Henry Belter and the artisans employed at his shop. The intricate pierced and carved composition of grapes and vines pushes the innovative techniques of laminating and bending wood to unprecedented heights. In an 1860 advertisement in the New York Times, J. H. Belter & Co. touted its furniture: "These goods are composed of from 7 to 21 thicknesses of veneers laid with the grain at right angles to each other, and are much lighter and more graceful, and five hundred percent stronger and more durable than furniture made in the ordinary manner."
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.