The Boot Black

William P. Chappel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here, Chappel captures two extremes of New York society. In the center are three black workers—a boot black and two liveried coachmen. Whether they are free or enslaved is uncertain. This scene likely dates from 1806 to 1813, well before New York abolished slavery in 1827. If free, the men would have received meager wages. Chappel also depicts the Walton House, one of the city’s grandest homes, in great detail at far right. It was built in the 1750s by the merchant William Walton, who secured his family’s fortune by shipping provisions to the Spanish in St. Augustine, Florida.

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