Worktable

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The worktable was one of the few gender-specific pieces of domestic furniture. A woman would have stored sewing supplies in the upholstered bag and written letters on the hinged writing surface stored in the drawer above.

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