
Sofa
John Henry Belter
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
German émigré John Henry Belter—one of the most prolific and influential cabinetmakers of the 1850s—introduced technical innovations that revolutionized furniture making. His patented technique of plywood lamination, a process that used steam and pressure to bend and compress up to twenty-one layers of wood, dramatically increased the strength and flexibility of the material, allowing for extravagantly high, undulated forms. This bold sofa, with its sinuous curves and virtuosic carving and piercing, is an extraordinary example. It is a model of the French-inspired Rococo Revival style, which was favored for fashionable parlors throughout the United States.
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.