Table

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Although the maker of this table is unknown, it was probably produced in New York after a design by the British architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, published in his book Gothic Furniture (London, 1835). Just as the Gothic Revival library was enlivened by the contrasting colors of various types of wood, this table features an extraordinary specimen marble top composed of brightly colored pieces of marble and other minerals. The tabletop is supported by architecturally inspired flying buttresses extending from the central post, an excellent example of how Gothic Revival furniture employed features reserved for use in buildings during the Gothic period (12th–15th century).

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