Needlepoint carpet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Carpets were a considerable luxury in colonial America. Until the mid-eighteenth century, owners spread textiles over tables rather than on floors. This cross-stitched example has floral and geometric motifs supplemented by quotations from Edward Young’s "Night Thoughts" (1742–45), a popular poem about life, death, and immortality.

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